Fallen Heroes Part I
by Alex Lampe
Summary: It's the year 2380. In the hopes of preventing a war that was already deemed inevitable, Starfleet arranges a diplomatic meeting with the enigmatic Altonoids, unaware that they're about to walk into a deadly trap. 6/7
1. Chapter 1

"FALLEN HEROES"

by Alex Lampe

PART I - CHAPTER I

Captain Duvivier sits in his ready room onboard his ship, the _USS Kennedy_, and stares at the small monitor on top of his desk. Captain Mathieu Duvivier is a not-too-tall man in his late thirties. His curly brown hair with few grey streaks accents his soft facial features. The Captain often sports a friendly smile, and always tries to make his crew feel comfortable around him. Don't, however, mistake his friendliness for a sign of weakness. He has proven time and again that he's a capable commanding officer when the going gets tough.

"Captain's log. Stardate 57485.7. The Altonoids and Loïdians have kept themselves in the background for a few months now, after they were caught 'red-handed' by our Chief Security Officer while attempting to alter history to their favor. Well… at least they never did anything hostile again since then. Not even one conflict… Given our somewhat problematic history with them, I can't help but feel a bit skeptical about the upcoming diplomatic talk. We've had some skirmishes in the past, but we've always managed to avoid an all-out war by brief displays of force and some careful diplomacy.

"So here we are. We, and the rest of our small fleet, are to rendezvous with several Altonoid ships at Station A-12, a station located near the Federation-Altonoid neutral zone."

"We've arrived, Captain," Cmdr. Jansen says as he barges in. Commander Grad Jansen is notably taller than his Captain, but he lacks his command presence. Partly to blame is his youthful appearance, his completely harmless face and that too-perfect haircut…

"You could've rang, Grad…"

"I'm sorry, Captain. It's just that this whole situation is making me anxious. Sure, it's a diplomatic mission, but… I really don't trust those Altonoids."

"We have no reason to…" Captain Duvivier sighs. "But we will have to, for now… It's our only way of ever reaching peace."

Cmdr. Jansen sighs and looks the other way.

"Speak freely, Number One," Duvivier says, with a friendly, inviting smile that never fails to get his crew to speak their minds.

Once again, the smile has the desired effect. Cmdr. Jansen says, "When you think about it, the only thing we did 'wrong' was that we accidentally stumbled upon their territory. We didn't mean to invade their space, we were just exploring. We just can't make them understand for some reason." He sighs deeply. "I really doubt the Altonoids want to talk. Past conflicts have shown that all they want is payback. Payback for something we've already apologized for. Whatever it is they're interested in, I doubt that it is peace."

"We will soon find out," Captain Duvivier says. He fiddles with a nearby PADD for a few seconds before saying, "There is one thing that worries me too, though. Captain Rinckes is also present…"

"You still dislike him for what happened during the battle of Wolf 359," Cmdr. Jansen states. "That's over thirteen years ago, isn't it time t---"

"Does time make up for what he did?"

"He had to make the decision," Cmdr. Jansen continues. "Close the hatch and save the occupants of the escape pod, or risk all their lives for the small chance of saving your mother. A command decision, Mathieu. A very tough decision, in which there's no right or wrong move. The fact remains: it wasn't Captain Rinckes who killed your mother. It was the Borg."

The Captain looks his First Officer straight in the eyes, but doesn't say a word…

* * *

The three Federation starships (the _Wolf_, the _Kennedy_ and the _Sundance_) drop out of warp.

The bridge crew of the _Akira_-class_ USS_ _Wolf_ are staring at the viewscreen. They see the relatively small (about 500 meters in height), unarmed space station, and two _Explory_-class Altonoid ships flanked by two _Altonoid_-class ships.

Admiral Coen van Aken is seated in the middle of the modern bridge, and takes a look at his officers. There's his First Officer, Commander Dennis Levine, who looks like a surfer with his blond hair that's barely short enough to be within regulations, and his omnipresent smile that's destined to melt many alien hearts. There's his Operations Officer, young Lieutenant Stephanie Grant. His Tactical Officer, the Swedish Lieutenant Commander Leif Anderson, with his patented worried but dutiful look. There's the Science Officer, Ensign Daniels, just transferred from the _Enterprise-E_. And of course there's the Admiral himself. Admiral Coen van Aken looks a lot younger than he actually is. Just the touches of grey in his short, red hair betray that he's fifty years old.

"_USS Kennedy_ and _USS Sundance_ are standing by, Admiral," Lt. Stephanie Grant says, while pressing some buttons on her console.

"Well… It's time to beam down to the st---" Admiral Van Aken says, when suddenly the lights dim and the red alert claxons start blaring.

"Altonoid vessels are arming weapons!" Lt. Cmdr. Leif Anderson shouts.

"What the hell?"

"They're hailing us," Lt. Grant says with the same amount of disbelief.

"On screen!"

An Altonoid appears on the viewscreen of the _Wolf_, and also on that of the other ships. Altonoids are instantly recognizable by their outrageous haircuts and the fact that their heads are covered with multiple rings and piercings. They all have this air of charismatic arrogance surrounding them, especially this guy. Clearly the fleet's leader, this Altonoid has even more rings on his face than the average Altonoid, and the arrogant twist of his lips seems to have found permanent residence on the marked face that betrays he's had a rough life.

"You Federation scum! I should've known!" the Altonoid says. "You have no interest in peace! You just want payback for what happened in the past!"

"What are you talking about?" Admiral Van Aken asks. "We have done nothing to provoke your hostile posture."

"Is that so?!" the Altonoid asks. "And what about that cloaked _Defiant_-class ship?"

This is a classic example of a trick question. The _USS Satellite_ is indeed present and cloaked, but the Altonoids could just be guessing about its presence, meaning that an affirmation of this accusation would give away the Federation's back-up plan and force them to admit they violated the treaty of Algeron. Or the Altonoids could have somehow picked up the _Satellite_ with their sensors. They did guess its ship class correctly. Denying its presence would then mean that the Altonoids know that Coen van Aken is lying, deeming all further negotiations pointless.

Van Aken decides to be as diplomatic as possible. "We are sorry for that…" he sighs. "We needed a back-up plan."

"You are willing to neglect one of your own treaties in order to do this?"

"We are really sorry," Admiral Van Aken says. "But we've done this before, and it saved the entire Federation when you invaded our space with a large, cloaked fleet. We had to take our precautions."

The Altonoid is furious, which is somewhat understandable. "You do not trust us?"

"Trust is earned," Admiral Van Aken says, with an apologetic smile. "I deeply regret this situation. We should've been more open, despite what happened in the past."

"At least you seem to have regained some honesty… However, we must request the immediate departure of that vessel_._ And we will discuss this event later today."

"That is reasonable," Admiral Van Aken says, with a short bow of the head.

"Prepare to beam down. But I warn you!" The Altonoid raises his index finger. "No more surprises! Letor Fune out."

Admiral Van Aken slouches back in his chair and lets out a big sigh. "That was close… And the meeting hasn't even officially begun yet…"

* * *

On the brightly lit bridge of the _Prometheus_-class_ USS Sundance_, the crew can see the _Defiant_-class_ USS Satellite_ uncloak and warp away.

"Altonoid weapons are powering down," Lt. Broitz, the Bolian Chief Tactical Officer says.

"Thank goodness," the attractive, young Commander Melanie Simons says. "Not a good start of our diplomatic meeting, is it?"

"No… Let's hope things will finally be different at the station," Captain Stephan Rinckes says. A barely noticeable twitch in his eyes betrays that he's a bit nervous.

Captain Stephan Rinckes has a very charismatic and militaristic look. He's a tall, strong man in his mid-forties. His hard face makes anyone follow his orders without a single doubt. He has this constant stare in his narrow eyes which makes him look like there are more things going on inside his mind than anyone is allowed to understand. But this time, the look is different. He looks nervous, more human.

"Beam-down to the station is commencing," Cmdr. Simons says, after pressing some buttons on a station at the side of the bridge.

Captain Rinckes rises up from his Captain's chair. "You have the bridge, Mr. Broitz. Commander Simons, if you'd please follow me to transporter room 3." He walks over to the turbolift. Cmdr. Simons enters the turbolift with her Captain, and fails to notice that his nervousness has just picked up a notch.

"Good luck, Captain!" Lt. Broitz says.

"Thanks," Captain Rinckes says, with a slightly higher pitched voice than normal, and he looks at Cmdr. Simons. She just stares at the bridge, not knowing that the Captain is looking at her. The turbolift doors close…

The remainder of the bridge crew all can't suppress a smile.

* * *

"You have the bridge, Sivar," Captain Duvivier says on the bridge of the _Sovereign_-class _USS Kennedy_, as he and Cmdr. Jansen enter the turbolift.

"Yes sir." The Science Officer, Lieutenant Sivar, leaves his station, which is taken over immediately by an eager Ensign who will probably die very quickly.

Lt. Sivar settles himself in the Captain's chair. Now that the Captain and his First Officer are leaving the ship, he feels the weight of command pressing on his shoulders. He doesn't show it, of course. As a Vulcan, he has learned to control and repress any emotion he might experience.

"There's a first time for everything," Doctor Rose van Oers says when she looks to her right and sees Sivar sitting there.

The Doctor is a bit of an enigmatic character, with more change in hairstyle and hair color than your average Risian chameleon bird. She is highly regarded in Starfleet, which is shown by her high rank of Commander. She's a skilled doctor and her patients are very fond of her.

As always, Sivar has his answer ready. "Although I have commanded this ship before, logic dictates that your typically human expression supports the fact that this is the first time I have commanded a starship during a diplomatic meeting."

"Bet he can't say that five times in a row," Helm Officer Lt. Malin whispers to OPS Officer Lt. Sven Muntenaar, who grins at the thought.

"In fact, I believe I can, Ms. Malin," Sivar replies dryly. "However, I do not believe this is the appropriate time for a demonstration."

"No, sir. I- I'm sorry, sir," Lt. Malin stutters.

Lt. Muntenaar's leans over to her with a wide smile, and softly says, "You forgot about the exceptional hearing of a Vulcan, Malin."

"Apparently, so have you, Lieutenant." Sivar joins in once again. "If you are done lecturing Ms. Malin about Vulcan physiology, I suggest you get back to performing your duty."

Now it's Muntenaar's turn to feel embarrassed. "Yes sir. Right away, sir." He tries to ignore the teasing smile Malin is giving him right now.

The young, blonde Trill Lt. Malin and the somewhat older, strong Lieutenant First Class Sven Muntenaar with his pitch-black hair, look like complete opposites of each other. But they get along just fine behind their stations in front of the bridge.

* * *

Cmdr. Jansen and Captain Duvivier enter transporter room 2 of the _USS Kennedy_ and step onto the platform.

"This is going to be fun…" Captain Duvivier says as he gives Jansen a somewhat wry smile. "Energize."

The transporter room dissolves around them and is replaced by a large transporter room inside Station A-12. Some nasty looking Altonoids await them. They're obviously attempting to be courteous, but even without carrying weaponry they look menacing. "This way please," one of them says.

"It looks as if the Altonoids have taken over the station," Jansen whispers to Captain Duvivier as softly as possible, while they follow the Altonoids.

Captain Duvivier grins. "Already?" he whispers back. "I thought the takeover wasn't scheduled 'till after the buffet."

They both smile.

The Altonoids lead them to the main conference hall of the station. The room is quite large, with two exits: the one they came through, and another one on the opposite side. To the left they see the Federation and Altonoid banners hanging on the wall. To the right there's a huge window, from which they can see their vessels. Besides enough tables and chairs, there is also plenty of tasty food available. Several strategically placed buffet carts are to supply the attendants of the necessary nourishment. After all, you better not talk politics on an empty stomach.

In total there are six Starfleet officers and about fifteen Altonoids present. Not all of them look like diplomats. In fact, the only Altonoid here who looks like he has something to do with the upcoming talk is Letor Fune.

Captain Duvivier and Cmdr. Jansen walk over to Admiral Van Aken and his First Officer Cmdr. Dennis Levine.

"This place really gives me the creeps," Cmdr. Levine says, with a Southern accent that complements his Texan charm.

"Surprising how over a dozen of Altonoids can turn a Starfleet station into a 'creepy' place, Commander Levine," Cmdr. Jansen says, of course when there are no Altonoids in the near vicinity.

Captain Rinckes, holding a bowl of eggnog in his hand, spots the group from the other side of the room, waves and starts walking towards them.

"A dozen of Altonoids and Captain Rinckes…" Captain Duvivier softly says.

"Did you say something, Duvivier?" Admiral Van Aken asks.

Captain Duvivier quickly shakes his head.

"Anyway. I think we'd better break up," Van Aken continues. "Try to speak with the Altonoids. Show some goodwill."

Captain Rinckes joins the group. At that moment the group disperses to seek an Altonoid who is willing to talk, leaving Rinckes alone. "Eggnog anyone?" he says to thin air.

"Do you come here often?" Admiral Van Aken asks an Altonoid in an attempt to break the ice. The Altonoid just gazes back like the Admiral is completely retarded.

A few tables away, Commander Levine tries out one of his famous jokes. "And then the monkey told the Bolian…" Dennis Levine can't even finish the joke, because he's already laughing. The Altonoid in front of him looks at his bowl of eggnog, contemplating whether or not he should empty it on Levine's head.

"You don't happen to have a knife on you?" Duvivier asks another Altonoid, while attempting to remove a claw from a lobster.

The Altonoid looks at Captain Duvivier, thinking: 'is this a trick question?'

"Or a phaser?" Cmdr. Jansen asks jokingly when he sees his Captain struggling with the lobster. The Altonoid walks away, shaking his head.

Cmdr. Simons on the other hand doesn't seem to be having problems conversing with the Altonoids. Several Altonoids have formed a group around the pretty, blonde Commander. One might wonder why… Captain Rinckes observes it all, standing behind a buffet cart, with a touch of jealousy. "I wish they'd stop hanging all over her…" he mutters as he accidentally stabs his fork in a nearby Altonoid's hand, instead of his tuna salad.

Captain Rinckes apologizes briefly and walks over to Cmdr. Simons and her 'entourage', leaving a cursing Altonoid behind. "Commander. Do you have a moment?" Captain Rinckes asks. Commander Simons turns around and smiles at Stephan Rinckes. Rinckes swallows some saliva, nearly chokes on it and emits a series of coughs. "Could you follow me please?" he continues with a higher pitched voice.

"Sure," Cmdr. Simons says. "We'll talk later, guys."

They walk away and Simons waves at the Altonoids. "Those Altonoids are nicer than I thought," she says as they exit the large room.

"Just wait 'till they meet your mother…" Captain Rinckes mutters beneath his breath.

* * *

"Everything seems to be running smoothly." Lieutenant Commander Henry Wilson, the commander of the station, appears content. The command room he's in looks like the bridge of a starship, and contains five officers at present: Wilson himself, Security Officer Lieutenant First Class Natalie Wyobi, and three no-name Ensigns.

"The security teams should've checked in five minutes ago," Lt. Wyobi says. "Odd…"

"It's probably nothing, Lieutenant," Lt. Cmdr. Wilson says, leaning back in his chair.

"I suppose you're right. There are roughly 200 Starfleet officers plus the Federation-Altonoid delegation to protect. I suppose they're busy enough as it is. I'll give them a little more time."

* * *

Cmdr. Simons and Captain Rinckes walk down the hallway and come to a halt on a quiet spot. There don't seem to be any people in the corridors at all.

"There's something I've wanted to tell you all along," Rinckes says.

"Another poem?" Cmdr. Simons answers with a smile. A few weeks ago, Rinckes had surprised everyone by suddenly letting loose his artistic side. The poetry he had written became instantly legendary among the crew, because no-one had even the slightest idea what it was all about, and it was a very uncharacteristic thing to do for the stern Captain, to put it mildly.

Captain Rinckes laughs a forced (and painfully fake) laugh. "No… I've wanted to tell you this for a long time, but I never got around to it, and---"

* * *

"Strange…" Lt. Wyobi says. "The internal sensor readings indicate nothing unusual."

"And that is strange?" Lt. Cmdr. Wilson asks.

"Yes it is. Normally, there are some random energy peaks in the sensor sweeps. But now they all occur at an exact interval of 4.7 seconds. Very strange..."

* * *

"…after the poem incident I had lost all my confidence…" Captain Rinckes continues.

* * *

"These readings are so consistent," Lt. Wyobi says while reading from her console, "that you would almost say that they are fake."

"Why would anyone create fake sensor readings for the security sca---" Lt. Cmdr. Wilson says. He gives Lt. Wyobi a terrified look when he realizes what the answer must be.

Lt. Wyobi turns to face Wilson, and instantaneously gets hit in the chest by a phaser beam. She falls off her chair. Dead…

Lt. Cmdr. Wilson jumps off his chair and turns around. A group of armed-to-the-teeth Altonoids exit the turbolift. They blast the three no-name Ensigns, who all collapse, leaving only Lt. Cmdr. Wilson alive.

* * *

"What it all comes down to is this…" Captain Rinckes says.

* * *

Lt. Cmdr. Wilson looks at the dead crewmen and then at the Altonoids. "RED ALERT!" he shouts at the top of his lungs.

* * *

"I love---" Captain Rinckes says, but suddenly the entire station goes to red alert. The lights dim slightly and red alert panels light up on the bulkheads. "Hell!" Rinckes curses.

"You love… hell?" Cmdr. Simons asks, confused.

* * *

Lt. Cmdr. Wilson runs over to the Security station in front of the bridge, and presses some buttons, opening a comm channel throughout the entire station. The Altonoids don't know exactly what he's doing. One of the Altonoids wants to shoot him nevertheless.

"No!" another Altonoid says. It can be heard throughout the entire station.

* * *

"Did you hear that?" Rinckes asks, happy to have a subject change at hand.

"Yes. You just took me to these corridors to tell me you love hell?" Cmdr. Simons asks.

"No, listen." Rinckes points at the roof.

The Altonoid voice is clearly audible everywhere on the station. "_Our orders are to shoot the Security and Engineering officers, plus all officers below the rank of Lieutenant Commander. The rest we will have to hold hosta--- What is this? He opened a comm channel, the stupid Federation idiot. Secure him!"_

* * *

They could also hear it in the conference room. All Altonoids present grab a weapon from their uniforms. An additional eight Altonoids enter the room, fully armed…

"What the jellybeans?!" Captain Duvivier shouts.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Admiral Van Aken shouts, even louder. The Altonoids remain silent. They just point their rifles at the four Starfleet officers.

"Sit down!" Letor Fune orders, clearly taking control of the situation.

"Shouldn't there be six of them?" another Altonoid, with a bandage on his left hand, says, pointing at the Federation quartet.

"Find the other two!" Letor Fune orders again.

"That's really like Captain Rinckes. Running off like that…" Duvivier says. "I wouldn't be surprised if he'd somehow be involved with this entire situation…"

"Hold on a minute. You're saying Captain Rinckes is a traitor?" Admiral Van Aken says, unable to hide his disbelief.

"I'm saying I won't be surprised if he turns out to be one."

"And I'm saying we have bigger concerns here!" Cmdr. Jansen says, pointing at the heavily armed Altonoids who are keeping their rifles fixed on the Starfleet officers.

* * *

Onboard the _USS Kennedy_:

"Some kind of shield has formed around the station, preventing beaming in or out!" Lt. Muntenaar says.

"Why would they do th---" Lt. Malin asks, but the Chief Tactical Officer, Lieutenant Steven Appels, interrupts her.

"The Altonoid ships are raising their shields!" Lt. Appels shouts.

"I'm no expert in diplomatic meetings…" Dr. Van Oers says with a touch of sarcasm, "but I don't think this is supposed to happen…"

"You are correct, Doctor," Lt. Sivar says. "The presently occurring events are not enviable."

"What do we do?" Lt. Cmdr. Soeteman, the _Kennedy_'s Chief Engineer, asks.

"We await the decision of the lead ship, which is in this case…" Lt. Sivar says as he frowns. "…the _USS Wolf_."

* * *

Onboard the _USS Wolf_:

"We must act now, Commander!" Lt. Stephanie Grant says.

"Ease off, Stephanie," Lt. Cmdr. Anderson says. He is in charge of the _Wolf_ plus the small fleet consisting of the _Kennedy_ andthe _Sundance_, now that its flag officers are held captive at the station. "Hail them…"

"They're already transmitting a message, sir. They're sending it to Starbase 9," Lt. Grant says.

"Put it on screen."

Letor Fune, standing in the conference hall with the four Starfleet officers behind him, appears on the viewscreen. "This is Letor Fune representing all Altonoids. We have taken over Station A-12 and are holding the crews of this station and the three accompanying Federation ships hostage. Among the hostages are this area's most prominent flag officers, including Admiral Coen van Aken and Captain Mathieu Duvivier. We will kill and destroy everyone and everything here if you do not obey our demands.

"Our demands are simple: withdraw all Starfleet activity in this region of space. We demand the dismantling of all your starbases along the Altonoid neutral zone. Also, we demand that you sign one of _our_ treaties that will makes sure you'll never interfere with us again. Obey these demands, or the hostages will die. We'll give you five hours to decide. Letor Fune out."

* * *

The bridge crews of the _Sundance_ and _Kennedy_ have also watched the message. Lt. Sivar stares at the viewscreen from his Captain's chair, aboard the _Kennedy_. All he can say is: "Fascinating…"

"We have a situation on our hands," Lt. Cmdr. Soeteman sighs.

"We have indeed," Lt. Appels says, speaking quickly. "The Altonoid vessels are moving to intercept us. They're powering up weapons!"


	2. Chapter 2

"FALLEN HEROES"  
by Alex Lampe

PART I – CHAPTER II

Ever since Station A-12 went to red alert, Captain Stephan Rinckes and his First Officer Commander Melanie Simons have been striding through the corridors, dodging the occasional armed Altonoid. By now, Captain Rinckes has come up with a plan. "We must find a communications station, because our combadges don't work. Must be the Altonoids' doing."

"And we should get some weaponry," Cmdr. Simons replies, as she brushes a few strands of blonde hair away from her eyes.

"That won't hurt…" Captain Rinckes says. When he sees that his First Officer is raising an eyebrow at him, he continues with a sheepish, "Well, it won't hurt us."

Cmdr. Simons shakes her head.

"There should be a weapons locker up ahead," Captain Rinckes continues. And indeed, there is a weapons locker up ahead where the corridor ends in a T-junction. They head for it, but just when they're about to reach it, they see it's being guarded by an Altonoid. This one looks like any other Altonoid soldier: tall, strong, adorned with multiple tattoos and piercings, and equipped with a rather huge hairdo that covers parts of his grumpy face. Luckily, he doesn't spot the two Starfleet officers.

Captain Rinckes and Cmdr. Simons quickly hide themselves behind the corner. "Alright," Captain Rinckes says calmly. "What do we do now?"

Cmdr. Simons says nothing, plucks one of the three rank pips off her collar, and throws it at the bulkhead behind the Altonoid. The pip makes a ticking sound when it bounces off the bulkhead and hits the floor. The Altonoid soldier looks down and inadvertently gives Captain Rinckes all the time he needs to run over to him. The distracted Altonoid looks up too late to prevent himself from being kicked in the stomach; he slams into the bulkhead behind him and collapses.

"We're quite a team, aren't we?" Cmdr. Simons says playfully as she walks over to her Captain. The Captain replies with a brief hint of a smile, and he opens the weapons locker to grab its contents: a handphaser and a heavy phaser rifle. He gives the handphaser to Cmdr. Simons, who in turn gives him a very punishing look. Captain Rinckes swiftly gives her the phaser rifle and takes back the handphaser. Simons nods approvingly, with a teasing smile on her face. "Wise move, Captain."  
Rinckes wants to reply to that, but thinks better of it and walks off. Simons follows, holding her newly gained phaser rifle steady in her hands.

* * *

In the command center of the station, now completely run by Altonoids:

"A weapons locker near guard DE-47 has been opened," says an Altonoid who has taken the security station.

"Odd. We do not use Starfleet weaponry," says another Altonoid, who has seated himself in the Captain's chair. "Contact that guard. Ask him what's going on."  
"Yes sir." A moment of silence passes. "He's not responding."

The commanding Altonoid furrows his brow. "Captain Rinckes and his First Officer are still at large?" He doesn't wait for an answer. "I think we've just found them. Send a security team to intercept them."

* * *

The two _Explory_-class and two _Altonoid_-class Altonoid vessels close in on the _USS Wolf_, _USS Kennedy_ and _USS Sundance_, which assume attack formation.

The two _Altonoid_-class ships break formation. This class of ships has a very distinct look, because it consists of two large saucers that are connected to each other via a 'hallway'-section. That hallway-section contains a very powerful weapon, reminiscent of the plasma weapon the Romulans used over a century ago in a cat-and-mouse game with the _Enterprise_. The Altonoids never mentioned the original name of their weapon, so, for the lack of a better term, Starfleet officers began dubbing it the 'spaceblaster'.

One of those vessels now faces the _Kennedy_ and loads its spaceblaster. The _USS Kennedy_ responds by firing a barrage of quantum torpedoes, which hit the loading spaceblaster dead-on, decreasing the shields of that Altonoid ship immensely. The subsequent explosions of more impacting quantum torpedoes knock the spaceblaster off-line. The two saucers still contain weaponry, but with its spaceblaster out of the way, the ship is no match for the _Kennedy_.

* * *

Onboard the _USS Sundance_:

The first weapon impacts from the other _Altonoid_-class vessel rock the bridge. The Bolian Lieutenant Broitz looks nervous as he takes in the sight of the double-saucered enemy ship. He knows the _Sundance_ has one great tactical advantage, and it's about time he put it to good use. "Initiate multi-vector assault mode!"

"_Initiating decoupling sequence_," the computer replies. The ship goes to blue alert, which is emphasized by the fact that the pillars on the bridge, as well as the bridge dome on the ceiling, start blinking blue light. "_Auto-separation in ten seconds_."

As the computer counts down to zero, Lt. Broitz fails to notice that the Altonoid ship that was attacking them only moments ago has ceased firing. He also fails to notice that its spaceblaster is emitting green light that steadily grows brighter and brighter by the second.

"_Separation sequence in progress,_" the computer announces, moments before the bridge shudders briefly but firmly. The _Sundance_ separates into three battle-ready sections: its saucer (which contains the bridge and most of the crew), the upper secondary hull, and the lower secondary hull.

"Initiate attack pattern Alpha," Lt. Broitz says with as much confidence as he can muster.

"_Specify target._"

"Holy crap!" he exclaims, when he finally notices that the Altonoid ship is mere seconds away from firing its formidable spaceblaster.

"_That is not a valid target._"

The startled Broitz jumps up from his chair and points a shaking finger at the viewscreen. "The Altonoid ship! Target the Altonoid ship!"

That's all the information the ship's computer needs. The saucer and lower secondary hull maneuver away from the middle section, which engages full impulse and heads straight for the Altonoid vessel. However, said vessel unleashes its spaceblaster and fires what seems like a giant green orb made of devastating energy. The inevitable impact is huge and causes the middle section to lose its shields and sustain heavy damage. It has gained enough momentum to keep going, drifting out of control towards its opponent. The slowly maneuvering Altonoid ship tries to move out of the way, but it's too late. The drifting section hits the Altonoid ship at full speed and explodes in its shields. That blast shatters the hallway-section, turning the one Altonoid ship into two half Altonoid ships.

"We've performed an unwanted saucer separation on them, sir!" Lt. Jena Roguez, manning the tactical station, says. "We've also knocked out their shields, and blew many of their important systems off-line."

"That makes them easy targets. It's like a shooting gallery," Lt. Broitz says. He forces a smile, carefully neglecting to dwell on the fact that he has just lost one third of the _Sundance_.

Lt. Roguez, however, has a casualty report ready. "When we lost the middle section, we lost thirty-eight crewmembers." There's definitely an accusing tone hidden in her voice.

"I know, Lieutenant…" Broitz says as he sits down in the Captain's chair. "Let's not think about that for now."

"The Captain's not going to like this."

Broitz wipes a bit of sweat from his forehead. "Look, he left me in command. Just keep firing at the Altonoid ship."

Lt. Roguez does just that, and she commands both remaining sections of the _Sundance_ to continue their attack on the two Altonoid saucers.

* * *

In the meanwhile the _USS Kennedy_ has seriously damaged the other _Altonoid_-class ship, and deals the last blow in the form of a dozen photon torpedoes that rip open the hull of the starboard saucer and make it explode in a huge blast a few seconds later. The resulting explosions are large enough to consume the left saucer as well.

Those combined blasts provide enough momentum to send the remains of the ship hurling towards an _Explory-class_ ship the _USS Wolf_ is trying to deal with. The large, beam-shaped _Explory_-class vessel fires its starboard phaser arrays in an attempt to destroy the large, burning hulk, and only manages to break it in two. Those two large pieces hit the upper and lower side of the large Altonoid ship, smashing through the shields and scraping the hull armor and external devices, such as weapons and sensors, off their foundations. The damaged _Explory_-class vessel gets embraced and consumed by the remains of the _Altonoid_-class vessel, and starts drifting too, into the direction of the second _Explory_-class ship...

That ship initiates full impulse in a futile attempt to escape the lingering destruction. Once again, they can't get out of the way in time, and the aft of the _Explory_-class vessel gets hit by the remains of its colleagues. The ship careens out of control, only to be greeted by a fatal salvo of photon torpedoes originating from the _USS Wolf_.

* * *

Onboard the _USS Kennedy_:

The Trill Lieutenant Malin scratches her head and is unable to hide a trickle of surprise in her voice when she says, "That was foolish of them. I mean, we outgunned them and all, but this was just… way too easy."

Sven Muntenaar, the black-haired Lieutenant who's sitting next to her, tries to ignore the quick victory and stays alert. "The _USS Sundance_ reports the destruction of the last _Altonoid_-class ship. Now we can focus on the situation aboard the station."

"The shield that prevents beaming is still in place. I don't think there's much we can do from here," the Chief Engineer, Lt. Cmdr. Soeteman, says.

"We'll have to destroy it somehow," Lt. Appels says. The short, but muscular Lieutenant rarely loses his cool, but he can appear a bit trigger-happy during times like these.

"First we will have to know where that shield array is located, Lieutenant," says the Vulcan Lt. Sivar, who's still sitting in the Captain's chair.

"We're receiving a message from the station," Lt. Muntenaar says. "It's being sent to all ships."

* * *

Onboard the _USS Wolf_:

"Well, put it on screen, Stephanie," Lt. Cmdr. Leif Anderson says. He sits in the Captain's chair of the _Akira_-class _Wolf_ as if he's been sitting there all his life. "We are the lead ship of the fleet; we should deal with all communications."

"Yes sir," Lt. Stephanie Grant says. _No need to recite Starfleet regulations to me_, she adds in thought.

Captain Rinckes appears on the viewscreen, with a corridor of Station A-12 in the background. The Captain of the _Sundance _looks ruffled. "Finally!" he exclaims. "We're probably being tracked down as we speak, so I'll keep things short."

"Captain Rinckes, I presume?" Lt. Cmdr. Anderson asks.

"Yes. Captain Rinckes." The Captain makes no effort to hide his impatience. "The Altonoids have taken over the station. We've been running from the Altonoids for a while now. I thought you'd like to be inform---"

"Captain, the Altonoids have raised some kind of shield that prevents beaming and combadge usage," Lt. Cmdr. Anderson says. "As long as that shield is up, we can't help you."

"We've found the location of the shield emitter," Ensign Daniels says, manning the science station. "It's located on deck 54, near section Beta 12."

"Alright, I got that," Rinckes says. "That's not far from here. And t---"

"You must destroy or disable that system by any means necessary," Lt. Cmdr. Anderson says urgently.

"Say, who's the Captain here?" Captain Rinckes says. Before he can continue asking rhetorical questions, he gets interrupted by Commander Simons, who runs past him. She's shooting at something that's invisible for the bridge crew.

"We've got to leave NOW!" they hear Cmdr. Simons shout.

Captain Rinckes grabs his phaser and starts shooting in the same direction. "You heard the lady," he says gruffly, right before he runs away too. Only a few seconds later, several Altonoids run past view. One Altonoid halts and looks right into the 'camera', showing his unpleasant face to the bridge crew.

"Hello…?" Lt. Cmdr. Anderson says, looking at the ugly Altonoid. "I am Lieu---"

The Altonoid grabs his phaser and shoots the 'camera'.

Now that the connection is terminated, the viewscreen shows the Federation logo in peaceful silence. "Well…" Lt. Cmdr. Anderson says as he looks around for a brief, awkward moment. "Now it all depends on Captain Rinckes and Commander Simons…"

* * *

An Altonoid phaser beam narrowly misses Captain Rinckes and destroys an LCARS display on a nearby bulkhead, as he and Cmdr. Melanie Simons are running through the corridors in an attempt to shake off the four Altonoids that are pursuing them.

Suddenly, Captain Rinckes turns around to face the Altonoids, causing him to evade a phaser beam that would've hit him in the back if he hadn't turned around. He aims his phaser, shoots one Altonoid, and turns around again, barely missing even more incoming phaser fire.

They're both running as fast as they can. Despite that, the Altonoids keep gaining on them. Just when they're about to run out of options, Rinckes spots an open entrance to one of this station's many computer rooms. He guides himself and his First Officer inside, opens a wall panel near the doorway and rips out some circuitry, fusing the heavy door behind them shut.

After a quick sigh of relief, they notice that there are two doors in front of them now. "Two ways to get to the shield emitter," Captain Rinckes says. "Door number one or door number two. Which one do we choose?"

"We must separate. It'll increase our chances of success," Cmdr. Simons says.

"Easy for you to say…" Captain Rinckes smiles when he looks at his own handphaser and Melanie Simons' somewhat more impressive phaser rifle. When he looks his First Officer in the eyes, he instantly regains his seriousness. "I'd rather stay with you."

She doesn't pick up on his sudden caring attitude. "We don't have time for a discussion. They can break through the door any second now." And with that, she walks towards the right door. "I'll meet you there, okay?"

Captain Rinckes doesn't like this situation one bit. He doesn't want to let her out of his sights, not under these dangerous conditions. However, he knows that the mission should come first. "Okay," he says, with reluctance.

Cmdr. Simons leaves and the door closes behind her, leaving Rinckes to stare at the closed door for a brief while. A series of loud clangs made by the Altonoids in an attempt to break through the heavy door makes him realize he's got to get out of here quickly. Without further hesitation, he goes through the left door and carries on with his mission. He's got to find that shield array before it's too late.

* * *

Through the large window of the main conference hall, the hostages plus the Altonoids guarding them can see the triumphant Federation starships facing the debris of the Altonoid vessels. The four captured Starfleet officers (Admiral Van Aken, Commander Levine, Captain Duvivier and Commander Jansen) witnessed the entire battle and can now see the _USS Satellite_ warping in.

"Why don't you give up, Letor Fune?" Admiral Van Aken asks. "Your fleet has been destroyed, while our fleet has grown even bigger. Surrender now; we're still willing to continue negotiations."

"We have no reason for concern. Our reinforcements will arrive shortly," Letor Fune says.

Commander Levine can no longer remain silent. "Stop this, Fune! Before we go beyond the point of no return, which will result in open warfare!"

Fune just keeps staring at the large window…

* * *

Captain Rinckes marches down a corridor, evades a group of Altonoids, and enters a square room. Seven armed-to-the-teeth Altonoids enter the room from the opposite side!

"What's that?!" one of them shouts, pointing ahead.

"Relax, Guz. That's what humans call a Jefferies tube…" another Altonoid says. "You know, we have crawlways on our ships and stations too." This makes the other Altonoids laugh.

"I really thought I saw something."

"You are seeing ghosts, Guz. Those two Starfleet officers Fune 'misplaced' can't be here. They wouldn't have gotten this far."

"Don't underestimate us," Captain Rinckes whispers to himself. He managed to dive into that Jefferies tube not a second too soon, and now he's crawling his way forward.

At the end of the tunnel, the Captain readies his phaser and opens the hatch. Some containers are stacked close to the exit, so Rinckes can hide behind them without being seen. He slowly peeks his head up and sees a rather bulky Altonoid device sitting in the center of what appears to be a small cargo bay. That must be the shield array. Though it's being guarded by at least a dozen Altonoids, the Captain is happy to have found the generator so quickly. "That science Ensign from the _Wolf_ deserves a compliment," Rinckes whispers to himself. "Now, how do I destroy that shield array?"

Captain Rinckes looks at his phaser and comes up with a nice idea. He sets the phaser to overload and throws it at the shield array. Quickly, he jumps back into the Jefferies tube, carefully closes its hatch, and crawls away at a breakneck pace. The handphaser hits the shield array, bounces off of it, and lands on the floor. A nearby Altonoid walks over to the fallen phaser and picks it up. Before he realizes what's going on, the handphaser explodes…

* * *

The station rocks and the lights flicker, distracting Letor Fune from a conversation with another Altonoid in the conference room. Fune curses in his Altonoid language. Luckily, the universal translator doesn't pick that one up… Once Fune has regained his composure, he asks, "What's going on?!"

The Altonoid that Letor Fune was talking to runs over to a nearby wall panel. "The shield array has been destroyed! It must be Captain Rinckes' doing. Or…"

"Rinckes again? I hate that guy," Letor Fune grunts.

"Take a number…" Captain Duvivier sighs. Nobody hears him.

"At least this area is still shielded," says the Altonoid near the wall panel. "Good of us to have that back-up plan. I don't think they'll be able to find that second generator. We made sure it's hidden very well."

"Didn't we know where they are?" Letor Fune is obviously displeased. "Didn't we have their location when they opened the weapons locker? And when they sent a message to the _USS Wolf_?"

"We don't know where they are now. We've lost track of them."

"We outnumber them a million to one and you can't find them?!" Letor Fune shouts. "Find them! Find them and bring them to me!" Fune lifts his index finger and his voice turns ominous. "And if you cannot capture them alive, kill them." He turns and faces the four Starfleet officers. "You don't happen to know where Captain Rinckes might be, do you, fellows?" he asks with feigned kindness.

"May I make a suggestion?" Captain Duvivier asks calmly. "I think he's headed for the shuttle bay right now, with his tail tucked between his legs."

Admiral Van Aken gives Duvivier the most punishing look in human history.

* * *

Onboard the _USS Wolf_:

"Captain Rinckes and Commander Simons have made it!" Lt. Stephanie Grant cheers.

"Made what?" Lt. Cmdr. Anderson says, without looking up from a PADD that was just handed to him. The _Wolf_ suffered only minor damage during the surprisingly short skirmish with the Altonoids, and the repairs are coming along nicely.

"The shield! It's down!" Lt. Grant says. But her happiness disappears quickly. "Oh… The Altonoids have raised a new shield around the conference room. We still can't beam the hostages out."

Ensign Daniels shakes his head. "I'm sorry, I can't find the location of this second shield array. I think they've jammed its power source."

"But we can now send troops!" Lt. Cmdr. Anderson says, his enthusiasm building up again. He presses a button on his chair's armrest. "This is the bridge to Lieutenant Hoper. Are your Security officers standing by?"

"_I thought you'd never ask_," Hoper replies in his dark and raspy voice.

"Are we going to release the hostages by force?" Lt. Grant asks loudly enough to be heard by Lt. Hoper.

"_Negative. That would put the flag officers at too much risk. We must take that second shield generator down, so we can simply beam them to safety._"

"Agreed," Cmdr. Andersen replies. "Assemble your troops and commence beam-down. Bridge out." He looks around for a brief moment before continuing. "We should be able to contact Rinckes, now that the first shield is gone." He presses his combadge. "Commander Anderson to Captain Rinckes."

"_Yes?_" they hear.

"You did it!" Anderson says. "Congratulations, sir."

"_I know,_" Captain Rinckes replies. "_I assume you will send in troops now._"

"That's right. But they've raised a new shield around the hostage room. You must find it and destroy it. We don't know where it is. Frankly, it could be anywhere."

"_Hmm…_" they hear Rinckes ponder out loud. "_I'll look for it._"

"Okay… Is Commander Simons still with you?"

"_We've split up. I'm searching for her now._"

"Alright, but if I may be so bold, the conference room shielding is our top priority."

"_Thank you for reminding me..._" The sarcasm drips from his voice_. _"_Rinckes out_."

"Bye, Captain," Anderson says. "Good luck." He turns to Lt. Grant after the comm channel has closed. "He's not exactly the cheery type, is he?"

Grant just shrugs and continues her work.

* * *

On the bridge of the _USS Kennedy_:

"Lieutenant Appels, have your troops ready to beam down to the station," Lt. Sivar says.

"Already doing it," Lt. Appels says, sending messages throughout the ship via his tactical station. "We'll give the Altonoids a hell of a warm welcome."

"Permission to come along, Lieutenant," Lt. Malin asks.

"We could use all the help we can get," Lt. Appels admits.

Lieutenant Sivar raises a disapproving eyebrow. "You're needed at the helm, Ms. Malin."

"I never get to do anything fun," Lt. Malin says half-jokingly.

"Believe me…" Lt. Appels says, as he opens a weapons locker and arms himself. "War is not fun. I can remember the Dominion war all too well… I think we all can." Nobody's paying attention to him, because they're all looking at the centre of the bridge.

None other than Q and Tony Q have appeared on the bridge, apparently from out of nowhere. They both look disgruntled.

The self-acclaimed 'god-like' Q is infamous for his frequent visits to several Starfleet vessels, including this _USS Kennedy_. Except for one very brief stint as a human, he has always been a Q, and always will be. Tony Q, though, is a completely different story. He used to be a human called Tony Blue, until he was chosen by the Q Continuum to successfully introduce human nature to the powerful but arrogant Continuum. While neither fully Q nor human anymore, he served Starfleet aboard this ship, the _USS Kennedy_. Due to mysterious circumstances (being sponsored by a race of omnipotent beings can be beneficial sometimes), he rose to the rank of Commander, despite being only 18 years old. He has used his powers to save the Federation on several occasions and has become a respectable, if not a bit odd, Starfleet officer.

Recently, Tony Q became a full Q and gave up his role in Starfleet. With his rather youthful age, he may not exactly look like a typical Commander, but he surely doesn't lack the self-confidence, or arrogance, if you prefer... Now he stands in the middle of the bridge, with his arms crossed. "I've made up my mind, Q!"

"Reconsider! It's not worth it!" Q retorts. "Let the Federation take care of themselves."

"They need my help! They'll never succeed without me." Tony can't help but sound more like a spoiled teenager than the robust, brave war hero he's trying to be.

"Look, we've been through this! Enough is enough. You're a Q now. You have responsibilities to the Continuum. I know these humans are an important part of your history, but if the Continuum tells you to back off…" Q uncharacteristically drops his melodramatic demeanor, and appears almost frightened when he says, "…you back off!"

"I've made the decision, Q." Tony Q snaps his fingers. A heavy phaser rifle appears in his hands.

"The Continuum won't allow this disobedience. They'll reduce your powers, or worse…"

Tony doesn't say a word and looks at Q with a determined look on his face.

"Alright! Fine!" Q shouts. "Have it your way, Commander Tony _Blue_! But don't come crying to me for help when things get out of hand!" And with that, Q disappears in a white flash.

Tony Q looks at the bridge crew, who all stare at him in stunned silence. "What?!"

Lt. Sivar stands up from his chair and walks over to Tony. "It appears you have decided to assist our attempt to recapture the station."

Tony Q sighs dramatically. "Well yes! You might say that!"

"And I assume the Q Continuum is not pleased with that," Lt. Sivar says.

Tony looks at Dr. Rose Van Oers. "I didn't know Lieutenant Sivar had such well-developed telepathic abilities," he says, making the Doctor smile.

Lieutenant Appels decides to join the conversation. "Alright, Tony. If you want to help us, resolve the situation by a snap of the fingers."

Tony snaps his fingers, but nothing happens, as expected… "They took away my powers…" he groans. "But I'm undoubtedly still immortal. The continuum can't afford to lose me."

"Alright, you can come along, Commander," Appels says with slight reluctance. "One thing needs to be absolutely clear: once we're down there, I'm in command of the squad, understood?"

"Yeah, sure." Tony's lackluster reply doesn't really ease Lt. Appels' mind…

"Now that their primary shield is gone, the scanners indicate there are many dead or injured Starfleet officers on the station," Lt. Muntenaar says. "The Altonoids didn't take over the station the nice way…"

"Indeed, Mr. Muntenaar. Their orders are to shoot anyone below the rank of Commander, or anyone who wears a security or engineering uniform," Lt. Sivar says.

"Maybe we should all wear command uniforms with the rank insignia of a Commander?" a nearby Ensign says.

Lt. Appels lets out an annoyed sigh. "No, Ensign Parkin. That will result in a change of orders for the Altonoids, making them shoot every Commander in sight…" He takes a long look at Commander Tony Q, who gives him a haughty look in return.

"Actually, it might be worth a try," Appels sighs.

"Very funny, Lieutenant," Tony replies. "I'd expected a bit more sympathy, even from you. I'm risking a lot to just be here and to help you. At least you can try to appear grateful."

Lt. Appels is not impressed and replies with a stern, "I'll thank you once this situation is resolved." Tony wants to retort, but Appels cuts him short by saying, "We've wasted enough time."

"Very well…" Tony mutters.

Lt. Appels doesn't hear him. Instead, he faces the Doctor and says, "Doctor Van Oers, please join my away team. They'll undoubtedly require medical assistance at the station."

"Now, that's not a very optimistic of you, Appels," Tony says. "Do you always take such poor care of your away teams? Things have really changed since I left."

Lieutenant Appels sighs. "I was talking about the crew of Statio---"

"I know, I know," Tony says. "Let's go now. We've wasted enough time."

Lt. Appels wants to say something impolite, but Dr. Van Oers gently coerces him to the turbolift. Commander Tony Q follows.

A few minutes later, the trio plus six Security officers materialize in a corridor of the station.

"Right now, multiple troops are beaming in from our ships. I am our squad leader," Lt. Appels says.

"How do you do?" Cmdr. Tony Q says as he takes a bow. "Enough kidding around, I am well informed. We've got to find the shield array that generates the shield around the hostage room." Tony says that last sentence like he has repeated it a billion times before.

"And I shall attempt to patch up every injured Starfleet officer we encounter," Dr. Van Oers says, genuinely optimistic as always.

"Yes. Alright. Our team will have to search deck 52," Lt. Appels says. "Commander? Are you listening?"

Tony Q breaks off his exchange of smiles with an attractive, brown-haired, female Security Ensign that's part of their team. "Sorry, you were saying?"

Lt. Appels sighs. "Let's go find that array." The group leaves the area with phaser rifles ready.

* * *

Onboard the _USS Kennedy_:

"Away teams have all checked in and have begun their search," says Ensign Parkin, who now mans the tactical station.

"I'm reading a funny…" Lt. Muntenaar says, but after a quizzical look from Lt. Sivar he corrects himself, "a _peculiar_ signal emerging from right in front of us."

"I see it too," Lt. Malin adds.

Muntenaar's look quickly changes from quizzical to alarmed. "It's an Altonoid ship uncloaking right in front of us!"

A strange looking variant of the huge, rectangular _Massal_-class appears on the screen. Its entire surface seems to be covered by yellow wiring. The wiring lights up at random points, until they converge to form four strong phaser beams that immediately start pounding on the shields of the _USS Satellite_.

"Fascinating," Lt. Sivar says, with a frown on his face. "Ensign Parkin, ready weapons."


	3. Chapter 3

Fallen Heroes  
by Alex Lampe

PART I – CHAPTER III

The upgraded _Massal_-class Altonoid warship that has appeared in front of the _Kennedy_ is an awe-inspiring sight. The Chief Engineer (the bald Lt. Cmdr. André Soeteman) is just as unhappy with its sudden appearance as everyone else on the bridge, but the unusual phaser system certainly has piqued his interest. "They've gotten rid of their torpedo bays and their spaceblaster. Instead, those yellow 'wires' around its hull seem to intertwine to form one incredibly powerful array." He's having trouble keeping a fair portion of inappropriate enthusiasm from showing in his voice. "It covers almost fifty percent of the ship."

Lt. Muntenaar stares at the viewscreen, which displays the _USS Satellite_ attempting to dodge the incoming fire originating from the huge Altonoid vessel. "I've never seen such a weapon."

"Neither have I," Lt. Cmdr. Soeteman says with a subdued smile. "But I'm sure it can pack quite a wallop."

"This is no time for idle chatter, Commander," Lt. Sivar says with his typical Vulcan stoicism. "Ensign Parkin, open fire at the _Massal_."

"_Massal_?" the young Trill Lt. Malin says. "I think we should call this one a _Uber-Massal_, sir." Her remark raises an eyebrow on Sivar's face.

Ensign Parkin presses several buttons on his tactical station and two photon torpedoes get propelled towards the _Massal_. The shields of the _Massal_ consume the two torpedoes completely, as expected... However, it did draw the Altonoids' attention! The _Massal_ stops firing for a moment, as if deciding which target to pick on. After only a few seconds of rest, the 'wires' light up again and four phaser beams hit the bow of the _Kennedy_, making its bridge rumble and shake.

"Evasive maneuvers," Lt. Sivar says calmly.

"Wow," Lt. Cmdr. Soeteman says, though this time he sounds intimidated rather than enthusiastic. "Our front shields went down to ninety percent! In just one hit!"

Nearby consoles send a battalion of sparks flying in all directions. Lt. Sivar remains calm, despite the fact that a few sparks have landed in his hair. He takes out the developing flames with one well-aimed pat and says dryly, "Now would be a good time to return fire, Ensign Parkin."

The _Kennedy_ fires half a dozen photon torpedoes at the _Massal_. The _Wolf_ and both parts of the _Sundance_ join the _Kennedy_ in the attack and back her up with photon torpedoes and phaser fire. Apparently, the combined attack is successful; the _Massal_ stops firing at the _Kennedy_.

"It seems they're not as tough as they appear," Chief of Operations Lt. Sven Muntenaar says. It's almost as if the Altonoids heard him, because they start firing again, making the bridge rumble and shake once more.

"It seems they're also pretty damn stubborn…" Lt. Malin adds wryly.

Lt. Cmdr. Soeteman only has eyes for his engineering station and sees the shield readouts dropping rapidly. "Our forwards shields are down to seventy-five percent and falling."

* * *

On the bridge of the _Defiant_-class _USS Satellite_:

Despite the fact that the _Satellite _has taken a little battle damage, the tall brunette Captain Suzan Reynolds appears unmoved. "I've had enough of this," she says, annoyed rather than impressed by the _Massal_'s presence. "Initiate attack pattern Blue Theta. Keep our weapons hot and firing."

Lt. Armand Callaway, the ship's Chief Tactical Officer, complies. In front of the bridge, seated behind the U-shaped HELM/OPS console, Lieutenant Bart Lynnson doesn't agree right away. "Attack pattern Blue Theta? This is risky, Captain." Captain Reynolds doesn't respond at all. Lynnson knows better than to press the issue. When the Captain's got her mind set on something, nothing will get in her way…

The _USS Satellite_ breaks formation, speeds towards the _Massal_, and fires a barrage of phaser pulses with its rapid fire phaser pulse cannons. Unfortunately, the pulses don't have the intended effect on the _Massal_'s actions, because the Altonoids continue firing at the _Kennedy_. Nevertheless, the _Satellite_ continues their assault. The _USS Wolf_ and the two sections of the _Sundance_ back the _Satellite_ up by firing what they've got. Before long, the _Massal_ finally starts to take a little damage to its shields.

"This is taking too long," Captain Reynolds says. "Initiate attack pattern Delta-12."

The _USS Satellite_ moves closer to the _Massal_ and makes an attack run over the Altonoid vessel. The highly maneuverable _Satellite_ performs a nosedive and gives the _Massal_ six quantum torpedoes to deal with. To make their attack even more effective, they bombard the shields of the Altonoid ship with phaser pulses. After that strafing run, the _Satellite_ turns around and approaches the _Massal_ from the aft, utilizing the time that maneuver takes to cool down the pulse cannons a little, only to let fly with them again once the maneuver is complete.

From the other side of the _Massal_, the remaining Federation ships unleash their weaponry. The _USS Wolf_ fires two dozen photons at the _Massal_, both remaining sections of the _Sundance_ fire full phasers at the _Massal_, and the _USS Kennedy_ pushes her powerful, dorsal phaser arrays to the max.

That last assault seems to have a positive effect; the _Massal_ finally stops firing. Now that there's some time to breathe, the _USS Satellite_ gets back in formation alongside her Federation colleagues.

* * *

The bridge of the _USS Kennedy_ is moderately damaged and an unfortunate Ensign is carried away by a medical team. Lt. Cmdr. Soeteman notices none of this, because he finds himself engrossed with the data his engineering station provides him. "The _Massal_'s shields are down to 65 percent."

"That means they're still quite intact," Lt. Muntenaar says. "So why have they stopped firing?"

"Perhaps they have realized they are no match for four Federation vessels," Lt. Sivar says.

"Wait…" Lt. Cmdr. Soeteman says. "Their phaser system has gone all funny."

"Funny?" Lt. Sivar frowns, but then something on the viewscreen catches his eye. The 'wires' of the _Massal_ light up in a strange pattern. They seem to flash on and off, and streaks of light race through the phaser wires like fireflies through a straw.

"Perhaps we damaged them more than we thought," Lt. Malin guesses. The nervous look in her eyes betrays that she's not entirely convinced of what she's just said. When she looks to her right, she sees that Lieutenant Muntenaar isn't exactly comfortable with this sudden light show either.

"What is going on, Commander Soeteman?" Lt. Sivar asks.

The Chief Engineer presses a few buttons on his engineering station and looks puzzled. "I have no idea. Our sensors are having difficulties with this new technology."

Sivar replies only with a frown.

Lt. Cmdr. Soeteman gives his station another puzzled look. When his mind finally grasps what he is seeing, his eyes widen and his face turns pale. He turns around to face Ensign Parkin and shouts at the top of his lungs, "Evasive maneuvers! Evasive ma---"

The streaks of lights converge and explode into one massive phaser beam, hitting the _Kennedy_ dead on. The impact is almost beyond description. The massive phaser beam sears right through the shields of the _Kennedy_ as if they were off-line. The lights on the bridge dim immediately. Consoles explode, and every single person on board the ship gets knocked off their feet.

Sivar gets tossed off his Captain's chair and Lt. Muntenaar topples over his station. A console on the left blows up, tossing a nearby Ensign across the bridge. Ensign Parkin gets chucked over his sparking tactical station and lands next to Soeteman, who has somehow managed to hold on to his station.

The right side of the bridge takes the most damage; the large wall display on the right is torn off the bulkhead along with two red alert pillars. One of those pillars crashes down and lands on the Science Ensign, who dies immediately. The collapsing remains of the nearby wall interface provide him with a quick burial.

Parts of the ceiling come down as well. One part crushes the Executive Officer's chair (which was fortunately empty) and the secondary tactical station behind it. The XO's console manages to escape most of the destruction, but it gets toppled over nevertheless.

Finally, the dreadful noises of scraping metal and exploding systems fade away. But it's not over just yet… Just when Ensign Parkin makes an attempt to stand up again, a loose part of the ceiling falls off and lands only inches away from his head. Stunned, Parkin holds still and waits for what might happen next, but the bridge has turned silent. It's over, for now…

Lt. Sivar has landed on the stations in front of the bridge and gets back on his feet. He overlooks the immense damage. And this is just the bridge… Many more sections of the ship must look this awful, or worse…

Lt. Cmdr. Soeteman wipes some blood from his forehead and accesses his console again. "Our shields are down… Engines are off-line. We're drifting. The ship's a complete mess…" He stands up slowly and sighs, "I'll go down to Engineering and try to repair whatever I can."

* * *

Captain Duvivier witnessed the sight with pain in his heart. To see your ship getting battered while you are utterly helpless is every Captain's worst nightmare. He practically has first-row seats to the whole battle outside, because the conference room he's being held captive in provides a full view of the battle through the room's large window. The _Kennedy_ looks scorched, and that _Massal _looks practically unstoppable. What he'd give right now to stand on the _Kennedy_'s bridge. His place is on the ship, but instead he's stuck here with his First Officer, forced to watch the battle unfold without any control over it.

Admiral Van Aken knows what the Captain must be going through, since he's in the exact same messy situation. The _Wolf_ hasn't suffered as much damage as the _Kennedy_ yet, but there seems to be no defense against that upgraded _Massal_. Van Aken eyes Letor Fune, who grins at the present desperation. He must know exactly what they're feeling, and he seems to be enjoying it immensely.

* * *

Two Altonoids get shot almost simultaneously and land on their backs. Captain Stephan Rinckes passes them, carrying a heavy phaser rifle he snatched from a dead Starfleet officer earlier on. That handphaser he was carrying just wasn't good enough, Station A-12 is swarming with Altonoids.

His hopes of finding his beloved Commander Melanie Simons alive dwindles with every area he checks. She hadn't responded to his repeated attempts to contact her via their combadges. He checked the computer room where they split up, and found no sign of her. Wherever he goes, he only finds Altonoids to kill or slain Starfleet officers. He can't even try to contact her again, because he has gotten rid of his combadge to further avoid detection. If he ever wants to see her again, he'll have to keep looking for her.

He turns around the corner and sees several Starfleet officers lying on the floor, a sight he's almost getting used to. Most of them probably died before he even set foot on this station. Anyone below the rank of Lieutenant Commander had to be shot, he recalls. That's practically everyone… Unbelievable really, that while he and his colleagues were dining in the conference room, a tragedy was already taking place. The Altonoids really left nothing to chance.

As he rounds another corner he encounters an Altonoid soldier who has his back turned away from him. With a quick headshot, Rinckes takes him down. The last thing he needs right now is for the Altonoids to signal his location.

Three dead Starfleet officers lie in the corridor in eerie silence. Rinckes slowly walks past them one by one. The first is an Andorian male who died clutching on to his medkit. The second is a human male security officer who lies facedown with a horrid phaser wound on his back. The last of them is a human female Lieutenant wearing a command uniform. She's leaning against the bulkhead in a slumped position, her blonde hair covering her face. She looks just like Melanie.

An ice-cold sensation creeps around Rinckes' heart as he closes in on the dead body. A damaged phaser rifle lies next to her. Is that the same rifle he gave her just a while ago? They all look alike. There are two rank pips on the dead woman's collar. Melanie had tossed away the third one to distract an Altonoid earlier on. The Altonoids must've thought she was a Lieutenant and shot her.

He wants to say something, but finds himself unable to utter even a syllable. Carefully, he moves the blonde hair from her face… It's not her. It's someone else. Rinckes sighs in relief, and immediately feels guilty for doing so. Whoever this woman was, she didn't deserve to die like this. He releases her hair, leaving it to cover her face again. He stares at her for a few more seconds, before leaving the area with more determination than ever. He's got to find Melanie, no matter what.

* * *

Lt. Norbert Hoper, the strong, black Chief of Security of the _USS Wolf_, marches down the corridors with nine of his colleagues. Several of these groups of six to ten Starfleet officers search the station in order to find the hostage room shield array. "Well, if this deck 51 turns out to be nothing worthy of our interest, we'll continue to deck 52 and join Lieutenant Appels' team," Lt. Hoper says in his gruff voice.

From the other end of the corridor, three Starfleet officers come running towards Lt. Hoper's team. "Ambush!" one of the fleeing officers shouts just before he gets hit by an Altonoid phaser beam.

Lt. Hoper and his team assume combat position and have to watch helplessly as the two remaining officers in front of them get shot by two beams that originate from an intersecting corridor.

Then there's silence. Only the beating of hearts and the shuffling of weapons. A few hour-long seconds pass. Suddenly, Hoper hears one of his officers screaming and he sees the officer landing on the floor next to him with a smoking phaser wound on his back.

"It's a trap!" Lt. Hoper shouts as he turns around and readies his rifle. He spots at least twelve Altonoids. They shoot two more members of his team in the blink of an eye.

The officer to his right –who has also turned around to face the dozen Altonoids- suddenly gets shot in the back! They're being attacked from both sides now!

* * *

Another joined team of eighteen Starfleet officers march through a relatively open area on deck 51. A large group of Altonoids catch them dead in their tracks. The Altonoids open fire and one Starfleet officer gets shot after another.

Somewhere on deck 38, a Starfleet officer makes the mistake of climbing on a container to give orders to his fellow officers. An eager Altonoid snipes him before the unfortunate officer could utter a word. Before the dead officer touches the ground, the rest of the squad get mowed down by an oncoming wave of Altonoid attackers and fall to the floor with smoking phaser wounds all over their bodies.

Another united group of surviving Starfleet officers are pinned down by a large ever-growing group of Altonoids in a cargo bay on deck 46. They give up a good fight, but essentially they're all cannon fodder. There are just too many Altonoids…

* * *

Lt. Steven Appels, Cmdr. Tony Q, Dr. Rose Van Oers, and their accompanying six security officers are still busy searching deck 52, when all of a sudden they hear a thud. The group halts immediately and listens carefully. The armed members of the group sway their charged phaser rifles around, silently looking for a possible hostile contact.

With a loud clunk, a hatch on the bulkhead to the left of them opens. Tony Q is closest to it and points his rifle in a reflex at… Lt. Norbert Hoper. Hoper appears to be injured, and he doesn't look very cheery either. He exits the Jefferies tube and doesn't bother closing the hatch behind him. "Sorry if I startled you, kid," he says to Tony Q. He faces Lt. Appels. "We've got to move off this deck."

Dr. Van Oers opens her medkit and starts treating Lt. Hoper's wounds. There's a nasty gash on his chin, but the dermal regenerator does wonders in the capable Doctor's hands.

The young Tony Q raises his expressive eyebrows. "And who are you to be giving us orders like this?"

Hoper continues his speech to Appels. "The station is swarming with Altonoids, especially on decks 51 and up. They killed off my entire team before I could find a chance to escape. Those Jefferies tubes really can come in handy sometimes."

Doctor Van Oers doesn't appear to have listened to anything he's just said. She's only interested in getting her patient up and running again. "I managed to heal that gash on your chin, but it appears your elbow is bruised and your shins are chafed to the point of bleeding. If we can stay here a bit longer…"

"That can wait," Hoper replies curtly. "We have to get out of here while we still can."

"What if the shield array is on this deck?" Lt. Appels asks.

Lt. Hoper strokes his healed chin. "Small chance, according to our most recent scans. We can't stay here, the Altonoids can get here any second now. We've got to keep moving!"

Lt. Appels is a bit reluctant, but gives in nevertheless. "Alright. Then we'll do that. You're the Chief Security Officer of the _USS Wolf_, right?" Hoper gives him a brief nod. "So you know what you're doing," Appels continues. "We'll use the Jefferies tubes to go down to…?"

"Deck 56. It should be safe enough to continue our search from there."

"Hello? Does anyone care to know what I think of this whole predicament?" Tony Q says. "I'm a Commander. I outrank you both!"

Hoper sighs and gives Tony an impatient look. "So what do you say?"

Tony looks around briefly and draws his conclusions."Let's get the bloody hell out of here!"

Without saying anything further, Lt. Hoper turns around to re-enter the Jefferies tube. The group of nine officers follow suit. They climb down two decks, but once they reach deck 54, they are forced to a stop. The hatch leading to deck 55 is blocked by something on the other side, so the group has no choice but to enter the hallway…

* * *

Four continuous phaser beams keep plaguing the already damaged _Kennedy_. Sometimes the _USS Satellite_, _Wolf_, or both remaining sections of the _Sundance_ manage to distract the _Massal_ for a moment, but the _Massal_ keeps targeting the _USS Kennedy_.

At last, the _Kennedy_ stops rotating around its axis. But now the most vulnerable section of the _Kennedy_ is facing the _Massal_. The section where the warp core is located: engineering.

With the bridge of the _Kennedy_ now facing away from the Altonoids, the bridge crew are given some time to assess the extensive damage. Most of the lights have gone out, and large parts of its bulkheads are severely damaged. The right side of the bridge is so shattered that it can't even be used anymore. Only half of the present LCARS-panels work, and the bridge is shaking heavily. Lt. Sivar, Lt. Muntenaar, Lt. Malin, Ensign Parkin and another Ensign are the only ones present on the bridge. The only ones who are alive anyway…

Lt. Cmdr. Soeteman, having arrived in engineering, uses the comm system to give a detailed damage report. "_Our shuttle bays took heavy damage. Our forward phaser arrays are fried. Our deflector dish has been severely damaged, just like our sensor system. Our shields are down to about four percent, we're having hull breaches everywhere, and our structural integrity is down to a mere 28 percent. Large parts of the crew are cut off from communication, so I can't be completely accurate._"

"Why don't you tell us what actually does work?!" Lieutenant Malin says.

"Well, I somehow managed to fix the thrusters, so we're no longer spinning."

"We have noticed that, Commander," Lt. Sivar says, while he sits calmly in his shuddering Captain's chair. "However, we require more than that. It is unlikely we will hold out much longer under these circumstances."

* * *

Engineering is just as messy as the bridge. Fortunately, the warp core is still largely intact, but some of the nearby consoles, ladders, and wall panels are missing. Well, they're not exactly missing, they're just all over the place… Engineering is shaking heavily, like the rest of the ship. Crewmen swarm through the huge room in an attempt to repair the ship and help their wounded shipmates.

The tall, bald Lt. Cmdr. Soeteman stands next to the computer table in the centre of engineering. Only a few years ago, André Soeteman gained the honorary rank of Lieutenant Commander after having provided the Federation with vital information on the Altonoids. Having been born an Altonoid, Soeteman didn't agree with the militaristic, barbaric way of life propagated by the Altonoid leaders. He's certainly not the only Altonoid who disagrees with their ways, but he's the only highly skilled engineer who has ever blatantly defected.

After having cut all ties with his past, even by going as far as subjecting himself to plastic surgery in order to appear human, he has gained many friends among his new colleagues. His assignment as Chief Engineer of a _Sovereign_-class starship clearly shows he has gained everyone's trust. But now, as he attempts to get the forward torpedo launchers back on-line, he can't help but shake his head at the irony of getting attacked by his former brothers with a revolutionary weapon system that's quite a technological feat.

He casts away the bleak thoughts and concentrates on the torpedo system. "Can't you bypass the secondary circuitry, Ensign Adler?" he asks the engineer across the table. "We need to get the photon launchers back on-line, at least." The four Altonoid phaser beams seem to be targeting the warp core now and engineering shakes even more violently. Soeteman almost loses his balance. "I wish they'd stop doing that."

"This is no time for a strike, Commander," Ensign Adler says.

Cmdr. Soeteman replies with a toothy smile that disappears quickly when he looks at the computer table. "Structural integrity down to twenty percent and falling!"

Suddenly the rumbling and shaking stops completely… This surprises Soeteman so much that he doesn't notice the warp core's excessive hissing and steaming. "The Altonoids must've stopped firing for a moment," André Soeteman mumbles. "But for how long?" Then he notices that his fellow shipmates are staring at the warp core, and he abruptly looks over his shoulder. "This can't be good," he says when he sees the warp core is emitting a copious amount of smoke…

While shoving a few Ensigns out of the way, Soeteman runs over to the console closest to the warp core and accesses it. "Coolant leak!" he shouts as he views the data on the console. He thinks for a moment and sees no alternative. "We'll have to eject the core!" His raised voice can't hide a trace of disappointment.

The blue/red warp core's smoking and hissing increases drastically, and André hurriedly makes the necessary preparations for a warp core ejection. Once the preparations are complete, he presses a large red button and the hissing warp core slides down until it completely disappears from view. In this case, the cold vacuum of space will cool down the warp core enough to prevent it from exploding, but it will also render it useless.

As Soeteman sags his shoulders and closes his eyes, he can sense the odd mixture of relief and increased anxiety from his colleagues around him. Without the warp core, their power reserves will drain much quicker, and they won't be able to initiate warp drive. This is never a nice moment for any Chief Engineer…

* * *

On the damaged bridge of the _Kennedy_:

Lt. Sivar is eager to find out what the status is in engineering. He wouldn't describe himself as being impatient at the moment. No, he's merely… curious. "Acting Captain to the Chief Engineer."

"_Soeteman here._"

"The Altonoids have stopped firing for a moment. The _USS Wolf_ has managed to distract them for a while," Lt. Sivar says. "It seems we have finally managed to better our circumstances. We have had a 'lucky break', as humans would call it. What is your status?"

"I just ejected the warp core."

For the first time in his life, Sivar doesn't know what to say.

* * *

Captain Rinckes enters another corridor and immediately bumps into Commander Tony Q, who is accompanied by nine other officers. The sudden collision makes Tony Q jump half a mile into the air. After his heart starts beating again, Tony takes a few deep breaths and says, "Why do you all continuously persist in trying to scare me to a premature death just the _instant_ I lose my powers?! I mean, just the fact that I'm probably still immortal doesn't mean you should test that out at every opportunity!"

"Hello, Tony… What brings you here?" Captain Rinckes asks calmly.

Tony Q lowers his shoulders and sighs deeply. "It's a long story."

"A story we don't need to hear right now," Lt. Hoper adds. "We should move on to deck 56."

"Decks 52 and 53 have already been overrun by Altonoids," Lt. Appels explains. "We are to continue our search for the hostage room shield array a few decks lower to increase our chances of survival… and success."

"Well, good luck," Captain Rinckes says as he attempts to move past the group.

Lt. Hoper blocks his path. "Where are you going? It would be wiser to come with us. We could use your help."

"I've lost my First Officer. I've got to find her," Captain Rinckes replies.

"Haven't you contacted her yet? The combadges are operational again," Lt. Appels says.

Rinckes gives Lt. Appels a level stare. "She didn't respond, so I will have to find her."

Lt. Appels shakes his head. "This deck will soon be swarming with heavily armed Altonoids. It's not safe here anymore."

"Commander Simons should be perfectly capable of taking care of herself," Lt. Hoper adds. "So, Captain, please come with us."

The group of officers give Captain Rinckes an inquiring look. Rinckes looks back at them and sighs before saying, "Good luck." He readies his phaser rifle, walks past the group and disappears around the corner.

"It's always about a woman, isn't it?" Tony Q says to thin air.

* * *

On the bridge of the _USS Wolf_:

Lt. Cmdr. Leif Anderson was shocked to see the upgraded _Massal_ demonstrate their massive phaser system's capabilities on the _Kennedy_. Luckily, the _Wolf_ was able to distract the _Massal_, and now it has ceased firing altogether. Anderson's guess is that after such a heavy attack, the _Massal_ needs to take some time to cool down their weapons, a window of opportunity he doesn't want to miss out on. "Open hailing frequencies to all of our ships."

Lt. Stephanie Grant nods and presses a few buttons on her console.

"This is Lieutenant Commander Anderson to all ships. We need to finish off that _Massal_ once and for all. Everybody, perform an alpha strike! Give 'em all we've got!"

* * *

On the bridge of the _USS Kennedy_:

"Are we able to comply with this order, Ensign Parkin?" Lt. Sivar asks.

"Weapons are still out, sir," Ensign Parkin replies, shaking his head.

"Then we have no choice but to watch our colleagues obey," Sivar concludes.

* * *

The _Satellite_, _Wolf_, and both remaining sections of the _Sundance_ gather around the crippled _Kennedy_ and face the _Massal_. Well, if the _Massal_ won't fire any of its weapons, the Federation ships will!

The _USS Wolf_ fires a large quantity of photon torpedoes and phaser strikes, just before the _USS Satellite_ sends out a short but extremely powerful series of phaser pulses and follows up with a dozen quantum torpedoes. The _Sundance_ sections assist by launching torpedoes and firing their powerful Type XII phaser arrays.

The _Massal_ takes the phaser strikes and suffers moderate damage, but the _Massal_ repels most of the incoming torpedoes by simply shooting them all one by one before they have a chance of reaching the Altonoid vessel… After all the torpedoes have been detonated harmlessly in open space, the _Massal_ goes completely silent again and sits there like a predator carefully calculating its next move.

* * *

On the bridge of the _USS Wolf_:

"That didn't have the desired effect…" Ensign Daniels says timidly. "Their shields are down to 35 percent, but the damage to their systems is minimal."

"Damn," Lt. Cmdr. Anderson says, not bothering to put any emotion in his voice because he's too busy contemplating his next course of action. "When will our little fleet have their weapons available again?"

"The alpha strike took a great amount of power, sir," Lt. Stephanie Grant says. "We won't be able to fire for several minu---" She stops in the middle of her sentence as she sees the _Massal_ coming back to life.

All the bridge officers of the fleet see the 'wires' of the _Massal_ light up in a familiar way. They seem to flash on and off, and streaks of light race through the wires like fireflies through a straw. Once again…

* * *

Onboard the _USS Kennedy_:

"They're targeting us again, sir!" Ensign Parkin shouts.

"Evasive maneuvers," Lt. Sivar says calmly.

Lt. Malin fruitlessly types in commands into her helm station. "Engines are still not responding!"

"I'm no engineer," Lt. Muntenaar says as he turns around in his seat, "but I'd bet my bottom credit that we won't survive another hit like this."

* * *

Admiral Van Aken, Captain Duvivier, Cmdr. Jansen and Cmdr. Levine observe it all from the conference room. Duvivier and Jansen can hardly believe they're about to lose their precious ship and the lives of their friends… Letor Fune sees their worried faces and smiles.

* * *

The bridge crew of the _Kennedy_ look at the mighty sight of the charging _Massal_. The erratic light coming from the phaser wires shines on their terrified faces.

Lt. Sivar, however, looks like it's any ordinary moment on any ordinary day. He has simply acknowledged the fact that they are all going to die soon. He presses a button on his armrest and says, "All hands, brace for impact."

Lt. Muntenaar closes his eyes in terror. From behind his closed eyelids he can vaguely see the _Massal_'s phaser system growing brighter and brighter. With clenched teeth he waits for the inevitable, fatal blow. Yet suddenly, the light emanating from the phaser wires disappears completely. Surprised, Sven Muntenaaar opens his eyes and sees that the _USS Satellite_ has maneuvered itself directly in the line of fire, eclipsing the sight of the _Massal_ in the _Kennedy_'s viewscreen.

* * *

The streaks of lights converge and explode into one massive phaser beam, hitting the _USS Satellite_'s bridge dead on. The shields of the _Satellite_ -though quite intact before the impact- are completely nullified by the very powerful Altonoid phaser beam.

The entire bridge of the _USS Satellite_ goes dark, and large parts of the bridge are torn off. Captain Reynolds manages to hold on to her Captain's chair, but suddenly notices that a force is trying to pull her towards the ceiling. She can barely hold on to the left armrest as she flips upside down. It's like the entire bridge has turned around! She can't breathe anymore because all the air rushes away from her into the direction of the ceiling… The ceiling is smashed! A hull breach of at least three feet wide has formed in the scorched ceiling, and the emergency force fields are not responding.

Though Lt. Lynnson is able to hold on to his OPS station, the OPS station is unable to hold on to the bridge! Lynnson and his station get propelled towards the hull breach in the ceiling. The officer is small enough to go through that breach rather painlessly and enters open space. But his OPS station is too big to fit through the hull breach without any trouble. With unremitting dexterity, the rushing air damages the station until it finally gets squeezed through the hull breach and disappears from view.

Some bridge officers manage to hold on to something, but most of them can't because they were already flying around due to the impact. They get blown off the bridge and are flung into space. Captain Reynolds still manages to hold on to her Captain's chair while the debris that is flying towards open space scratches her face and hands. She can't retain her grip on the armrest for much longer.

Then, finally, all the air on the bridge has rushed out and the bridge gets engulfed in a vacuum of darkness and silence.

* * *

On the bridge of the _USS Wolf_:

"Beam the survivors to our ship," Lt. Cmdr. Anderson says firmly.

"But, sir," Lt. Grant protests. "Then we'll have to lower our shields. We'll be defenseless for several seconds. I understa---"

"Do it! Now!"

Lt. Grant hesitates for a moment, and decides that Leif Anderson is right. "Dropping shields." A twinge of guilt is audible in her voice. "Beaming the twenty-eight survivors to sickbay. Captain Reynolds is among them."

"Twenty-eight survivors?" Anderson says. "That's thirty-two dead…"

Lt. Grant bites her lower lip and shakes her head sadly. "The _Massal_ will soon begin firing again, sir."

"Status of our weapons?"

"Still inoperative."

"Then we'll need to find a way to stall the _Massal_ a bit longer…" Cmdr. Anderson replies, and he thinks for a moment. "Of course! Perform the Bywaard maneuver!"

* * *

In the conference room of the station:

"It seems your precious ship hasn't been destroyed yet," Letor Fune says. "I am touched by the sacrifice of the _USS Satellite_. You must be glad you brought her along, aren't you?" And Fune smiles at Admiral Van Aken. The Admiral doesn't dignify that sardonic remark with a response.

Fune's smile disappears as quickly as it had appeared. "Of course it's only a matter of time. I expect a reply from your leaders soon. But just to let you in on a little secret." Fune threateningly leans over to the Admiral. "We're not interested in a diplomatic solution."

* * *

On the bridge of the _USS Wolf_:

Lt. Commander Anderson is relieved to have found a way to finally do some real damage to that _Massal_ ship. "Tractor the remains of the _Satellite_ and shove it up the _Massal_'s throat," he says with a determined grimace on his face.

"That's one way of putting it," Lt. Grant says with a smile.

"Well, that basically _is_ the Bywaard maneuver," Cmdr. Anderson says.

"I know what the Bywaard maneuver is, sir. Don't worry," Lt. Grant replies.

The _USS Wolf_ approaches the remains of the _USS Satellite._ The defeated _Satellite_ still appears to be quite intact, but its structural integrity is negligible and its hull has breached in several key areas. The _Wolf_ engages a tractor beam and pushes the _Satellite_ into the direction of the _Massal_.

"Override what's left of the _Satellite_'s computer system and set her engines to overload," Cmdr. Anderson says. "That should give the Altonoids what they bargained for." On the viewscreen they can see the hulk of the _Satellite_ being pushed ahead by a blue tractor beam.

Suddenly, something uncloaks between the _Satellite_ and the _Massal_. The members of the bridge crew see it, but none of them actually believe their eyes. It's another upgraded _Massal_ ship! It loads its identical phaser array and destroys the remains of the _Satellite _with a single phaser strike! And to make matters worse, the new _Massal_ is on a direct collision course with the _USS Wolf_!

Lt. Cmdr. Anderson jumps up from his seat. "Evasive maneuvers! Now!"


	4. Chapter 4

"FALLEN HEROES"  
by Alex Lampe

PART I - CHAPTER IV

Only moments ago, a second heavily upgraded _Massal_-classwarship uncloaked in front of the _USS Wolf_, just when the _Wolf_ attempted to make a run for the first _Massal_. This second _Massal_ is on a direct collision course with the _Wolf_ and the enormous Altonoid warship looks like it will not even flinch at the prospect of a head-on collision. The truth is that, though the impact may damage the _Massal_, the _Wolf_ cannot possibly survive such a crash.

Without waiting for the order, Lieutenant Stephanie Grant makes the _Wolf_ perform an extremely tight evasive maneuver in a desperate attempt to avoid the _Massal_. The _Wolf_ pulls up, makes a vertical U-turn, barely misses the oncoming _Massal_, and flies back to the Federation fleet with the _Massal_ hot on its trail.

Lt. Cmdr. Leif Anderson stands in the center of the bridge. Normally he's the ship's Chief Tactical Officer, but now that Admiral Van Aken and Commander Levine are being held hostage on the station, Anderson is in command of the _Wolf_. Luckily for its crew, Anderson is a capable leader who exudes confidence. "Aft view on," he says while he quickly runs a hand through his short, black hair. The entire viewscreen gets filled with the image of the immense Altonoid ship closing in.

"They're very close, sir," the Chief Science Officer Ensign Mick Daniels says.

"Thanks, Ensign. I've noticed..."

"The _Massal_ is powering up their phaser array!" Ensign Daniels shouts.

"And our weapons are still off-line, sir," Lt. Grant adds.

"We'll just have to take the brunt of it then," Lt. Cmdr. Anderson says firmly, and he sits down in his Captain's chair and holds on tight.

The front phaser wires on the _Massal_ flood the bridge with bright light. Four strong phaser beams impact on the aft shields of the _USS Wolf_ in a short but powerful burst. That seems to be the end of the attack for now, because the _Massal_ stops firing and comes to a complete halt. The first _Massal_ has already fallen back and is no doubt busy with repairs.

"I'm reducing speed," Lt. Grant says after having wiped some sweat from her forehead.

"That wasn't so bad. Return to normal view," Anderson says. He leans back in his chair and looks at the viewscreen that now displays the rest of the Federation fleet. Something's off, though. It's like his ship is slightly tilting down, into the direction of the _USS Kennedy_. Leif Anderson can't help but move his head up a bit, as if that would help to correct the tilting. Finally, he says something. "Is it just me or are we tilting down a bit?"

"I'll correct it, sir," Lt. Grant says. She taps in a few commands. Nothing happens. "Helm control is not responding!" She turns around to face her commanding officer with her eyes wide open. "Something must've snapped!"

* * *

Despite the fact that the _Sovereign_-class _USS Kennedy_ is one of Starfleet's toughest ships, it has taken a lot of damage trying to deal with the first _Massal_. The arrival of a second upgraded Altonoid ship doesn't bode well for the crew of the _Kennedy_. The bridge is already severely damaged and the ship's structural integrity is dangling by a thread. They'll have to rely on the _Sundance_ and the _Wolf _to keep them safe for now.

The _Wolf_ is heading straight for them, but it doesn't worry the bridge crew yet. Chief of Operations Lt. Sven Muntenaar reports, "The _USS Wolf_ seems to be drifting towards us at moderate speed."

Lt. Sivar nods. The Vulcan science officer was left in charge of the _Kennedy_ when Captain Duvivier and Commander Jansen boarded Station A-12. "Relay a message to them. They should alter their course in order to avoid a collision because we are unable to maneuver at this time."

* * *

On the bridge of the _USS Wolf_:

Lt. Grant's console emits a series of bleeps. "We've received a message from the _Kennedy_. We are to adjust our course… No kidding…" She faces her commanding officer again. "That last hit from the Altonoids must've knocked helm control off-line. That's why they've stopped firing. They're going to sit back and watch us crash. Well not on my watch! I'm getting control back one way or the other!" And with that, she crouches down and tears off a panel on the front of the helm console.

Anderson has managed to stay relatively calm until now, but smashing into a friendly starship will not be very helpful in this already lopsided battle.

"I could use some help," Lt. Grant says. Lt. Cmdr. Anderson immediately bounces up from his chair and hurries over to the console. He pushes Lt. Grant aside and starts fiddling with the console's internals. Grant wants to comment on being pushed away like this, but frankly, all that matters right now is getting helm control back.

* * *

On the _Kennedy_:

The bridge crew watch the _USS Wolf_ tilting towards them. Chief Helmsman Lt. Malin gives Lt. Muntenaar a worried glance. "Why aren't they listening to us?"

Lt. Muntenaar replies with a quick, nervous shrug and concentrates on his OPS console. "Eight kilometers and closing."

Lt. Sivar presses a button on his armrest and says, "Acting Captain Sivar to Engineering. We need our impulse engines back on-line as soon as possible, Commander."

"_That won't be possible just yet. I might be able to fix them within a few minutes,_" they hear Lt. Cmdr. Soeteman reply. "_I did manage to bring the photon tubes back on-line._"

Lt. Sivar sees the _USS Wolf_ growing larger and larger on the viewscreen. "Thank you, Commander. That is of great help to our current situation." His voice contains an unusual amount of sarcasm for a Vulcan.

"Six kilometers and closing," Lt. Muntenaar reports.

"Take evasive actions, Ms. Malin. Z minus 1000 meters," Lt. Sivar orders.

The thrusters on the dorsal sections of the _Kennedy_ fire, pushing the ship down slowly.

* * *

On the bridge of the _USS Wolf_:

Lt. Cmdr. Anderson is still struggling to get helm control back on-line, as they're approaching the _Kennedy_ quickly. The rest of the bridge crew can only sit by and watch with an understandable degree of anxiety.

"Fixed!" Cmdr. Anderson shouts and he jumps up to look at the result. "I think…" The _Wolf_ is still maneuvering towards the _USS Kennedy_. The _Kennedy_ has started a slow descent, but they're not moving quickly enough. Lt. Cmdr. Anderson presses several buttons on the helm console he believes to have fixed while the crew witness it all in concern.

A brief pause.

"Not fixed yet!" Lt. Cmdr. Anderson shouts, while the image of the _USS Kennedy_ is about to fill up the entire viewscreen. He opens the panel and tries again.

* * *

Onboard the _Kennedy_:

The young, tall Ensign Parkin has never felt this helpless in his life, even though he's standing behind the tactical station of one of the most powerful ships of the fleet. He has waited anxiously for the weapons to be repaired and finally he has a good number of photon torpedoes at his disposal. He's ready to fight the Altonoids again, but there's no defense against a friendly ship that's on a deadly collision course.

"Seventeen seconds to impact!" Lt. Muntenaar shouts. The little wrinkles around his eyes that normally add to his smile now only accentuate his nervousness. "Their current trajectory sends them straight at our warp nacelles!"

"Increase power to thrusters," Lt. Sivar says, calm as ever.

The _Kennedy_ is still moving down on thrusters only, but the _USS Wolf_ will collide with their nacelles within seconds nevertheless. The _Wolf_ is already about to fly over the _Kennedy_'s saucer section!

"All hands, brace for impact!" Lt. Muntenaar shouts over the comm system.

"Perhaps that will not be necessary," Lt. Sivar says. "Decompress all shuttle bays."

"What?" Lt. Muntenaar replies.

"Now, Lieutenant," Lt. Sivar says with urgency in his voice. After a brief moment, Muntenaar understands what Sivar is trying to accomplish and he complies with a subtle grimace.

The doors of the severely damaged shuttle bays open right when the _USS Wolf_ is about to fly over them. Air and debris get shoved out of the smashed shuttle bays located in the neck and tail of the _Kennedy_. The debris causes the shields of the _Wolf_ to emit a blue glow, while the air displacement pushes the _Wolf_ away from the _Kennedy_. The effect is marginal, but enough to make it barely miss the _Kennedy_…

* * *

"That was close…" Lt. Grant says to Lt. Cmdr. Anderson, who's still attempting to fix the helm. She'd really like to get helm control back. What good is it being an accomplished pilot when you can't even get to steer the damn ship?

"Fixed it!" Anderson says as he jumps up.

Stephanie Grant raises an eyebrow. "You sure this time?"

Cmdr. Anderson nods and hurries back to the Captain's chair. Lieutenant Grant quickly seats herself at the helm and presses a few buttons on the fixed console. Then she sees that the previous command of pulling up drastically is still imprinted in the console's computer, and the ship is about to obey that command!

So the _USS Wolf_ pulls up extremely and makes a vertical U-turn, just like when they tried to outmaneuver the _Massal_ moments before. After some dire effort, Lt. Grant manages to command the ship to cease pulling up, and the ship moves into one direction again. Into the direction of the _USS Kennedy_…

* * *

The bridge crew of the _USS Kennedy_ watch the _USS Wolf_ closing in once again. "This is getting tedious…" Lt. Malin deadpans.

Lt. Muntenaar is at a loss for words. All he can do is watch the _Wolf_ moving relentlessly towards the helpless _Kennedy_.

The _USS Wolf_ rolls 90 degrees to the left in a last attempt to avoid a seemingly unavoidable collision. Malin and Muntenaar instinctively close their eyes and cower down in an instinctive but futile reaction. Everybody holds on tight and waits for the imminent crash, but nothing happens. Lt. Grant's last minute maneuver is successful and the _Wolf_ misses the _Kennedy_ with inches to spare.

* * *

Everyone in the conference room of Station A-12 witnessed the whole ordeal and Captain Duvivier looks quite flabbergasted. Admiral Van Aken sees Captain Duvivier's reaction and says dryly, "Woman at the helm…"

Duvivier shakes his head.

"You know," Letor Fune says, standing only a few feet away from the four captured flag officers. "I must admit that I find your subordinates highly amusing."

The Altonoid with the bandage on his hand enters the conference room and reports to Letor Fune, "We are taking section by section of this petty station." Letor Fune replies with a mischievous smirk and keeps listening. "We've killed or wounded many Starfleet officers, but they are still fighting with great motivation."

"Spirit will get them nowhere…" Letor Fune says. "And that starship battle will not be won by them either." Fune turns to the captured officers. "Did you realize that the first four Altonoid vessels you fought and destroyed so easily were automated vessels? Those four vessels carried me and my troops to this station and were in fact completely empty when the battle commenced. They were merely running on a rudimentary AI program, assessed your defenses, and paved the way for the two prototype vessels to enable them to inflict some serious damage."

The four Starfleet officers are shocked to hear this and they make no effort to hide their astonishment. Letor Fune notices their mouths hanging open. He addresses the other Altonoids in the room when he says, mockingly, "Look at those 'officers'." Fune points at the four, shocked flag officers. "They actually think they can win this station back. Oh, how they underestimate us… They would give up all hope if they knew what was coming… So that leaves them with what? False hope."

"I'd take false hope over despair any day," Cmdr. Levine replies as he sticks his chin up. "If there's anything you should know about us, it's that we don't give up easily." Admiral Van Aken supports his First Officer's words with a daring smile directed at Letor Fune, who doesn't respond to this subtle provocation.

* * *

Crawling through the Jefferies tubes is a good way of travelling undetected on a station that's swarming with hostile forces. That's exactly why Captain Rinckes is making his way through one of Station A-12's many Jefferies tubes. He should be helping the many Starfleet troops in their efforts to release the hostages and retake the station, but that will have to wait until he has found his First Officer Commander Melanie Simons. It's been a while since he has last seen her. In fact, it's been a while since he has last seen any living Starfleet officer.

He has reached the end of this Jefferies tube and emerges in what appears to be a small maintenance chamber. A nearby console displays the schematics of the immediate surroundings. When Captain Rinckes checks it out, he quickly learns two things: this area contains an important central intersection where seven corridors meet, and it is absolutely swarming with Altonoids. There's no quick way around it, he'll have to cross the hub of intersecting corridors somehow.

When he looks over his shoulder, he sees the one door leading to the nearest corridor. If he'd go through it and take a right, he'd have to travel over 100 feet to cross the intersection and get to a quieter area of the station. Even if he'd step out with guns blazing and make a desperate dash for the other side, he'd be killed within five seconds tops. He'll have to come up with a plan because he's simply come too far to give up now. He thinks for a brief moment while he looks at the console. Then it hits him. The plan is risky, but it'll have to do.

With a few commands, he shuts down the entire lighting system for this area. Within a few seconds he can hear the nearby Altonoids raising their voices and walking by faster. Quickly, Rinckes kills the lights in the maintenance room too. He literally can't see anything while he stumbles for the door with his phaser rifle pressed firmly against his torso. He takes a deep breath and walks through the opening door…

…and enters a pitch-dark corridor that's filled with armed Altonoids that rush by in both directions. It's not as if he has any choice, but Rinckes follows the line of Altonoids that's headed for the intersection. There's a lot of tugging and pushing and at any moment one of the Altonoids could notice that there's an imposter among them, that there's someone wearing a Starfleet uniform and carrying a Starfleet issue weapon. They can't possibly see him, Rinckes made sure that even the emergency lights, wall displays, and blinking red-alert panels in this area went off-line, but all it takes is one very perceptive Altonoid and Rinckes is a dead man. It's as simple as that.

As he nears the intersection, the line he's in slows down and comes to a halt. Rinckes is glad that most Altonoids are shouting and speaking loudly, otherwise someone might notice his rapidly increasing heartbeat. The many Altonoids in the crowded corridors make the air heavy and Rinckes is starting to feel a bit dizzy. His palms are getting sweaty and that decreases the grip he has on his weapon. If he'd accidently drop his rifle… He doesn't want to think about what would happen.

Suddenly, the lights start to come back on! Rinckes' throat goes dry and his stomach churns violently. Only a split-second later, the lights go down again. The failsafe program he embedded in that console appears to have worked. Rinckes holds perfectly still, expecting to be revealed and killed at any moment… but a few more seconds pass and the queue starts moving again. Nobody noticed… Dazed with anxiety, he follows the Altonoids in what can only be described as the most unpleasant conga-line he's ever been part of...

When he's about to cross the intersection, he notices that some of the Altonoids have found and activated a few flashlights. Random beams of light shine through the many corridors, grazing the shadows and illuminating bits and pieces of the intersection. Rinckes makes himself as small as possible. He'll have to rely on the tall Altonoids around him to keep him from being noticed. Slowly, he crosses the intersection and passes the random beams of light undetected.

Just when he wants to sigh in relief, he accidentally activates the flashlight on his phaser rifle… A fountain of light shines in his face. Immediately, Rinckes rips off the flashlight and points it at the ceiling. Its independent battery kicks in and enables the flashlight to shine a bright spot of light at the ceiling. There's no doubt about it, he has attracted the attention of the Altonoids around him. They all stop and stare at the shadowy figure who's pointing a flashlight in the air.

Sweat streams down Rinckes' face and he has to swallow an enormous lump in his throat before exclaiming, "Look guys! I've found a flashlight!" He turns around and throws the flashlight at the intersection. Once again, he makes himself as small as possible and follows the queue in the darkness. If anyone recognized him, he's dead. His fate will be decided within the few next seconds. All it takes is for one Altonoid to speak up…

A few excruciating seconds pass.

The inevitable happens. An Altonoid from near the intersection shouts, "Hey!"

Rinckes' heartbeat flies past the 200 beats per minute mark and an overwhelming wave of nausea almost knocks him over. This is it. He's done for…

"Thanks for the flashlight!" the Altonoid shouts and he moves on.

Rinckes wants to vomit in relief, but he keeps his dinner inside. His legs are shaking, but he'll have to keep walking. He follows the queue as they round a corner, and the group of Altonoids slowly disperses into different directions. Rinckes stumbles along on auto-pilot until he rounds another corner. According to the schematics, there should be another maintenance room just after the bend and he searches for its door with his right hand while clasping on to his phaser rifle with his left hand. He glides his hand across the bulkhead, but there's no door. He retraces his steps and collides with an Altonoid, who apologizes and walks on. Once again, Rinckes' heart feels like it's about to burst out of his chest. If he doesn't find that door before the lights get switched on again… He keeps searching for the one door that will lead him to safety, but he simply can't find it. He must've misread the schematics somehow…

Just when Rinckes is about to give up and collapse on the floor, the door to the maintenance room opens right in front of him. Rinckes is stunned for a moment, then he enters the maintenance chamber. As the door closes behind him, he knows he's safe at last.

Suddenly, the lights come on and reveal an Altonoid who's standing right in front of him. The Altonoid is occupied with the maintenance room's console and has his back turned away from Rinckes. In a reflex, he aims his rifle at the Altonoid.

"Relax," the Altonoid grumbles, without looking up. "I finally got the lights working again."

Rinckes keeps the phaser rifle pointed at the Altonoid, ready to shoot him down at the slightest provocation.

"I haven't yet been able to get all the lights in this area on-line, but I'm working on it." The Altonoid reaches for his pocket. Rinckes' finger tightens around the trigger, but the Altonoid simply pulls out a flashlight and tosses it over his shoulder. "Here, take the flashlight. I yanked it off a Starfleet phaser rifle. We can't attach them to our weapons, but they're still useful."

Rinckes attaches the flashlight to his phaser rifle with one simple click. "Thanks."

Shocked, the Altonoid turns around slowly. "H-h-how did _you_ get here?"

Rinckes shrugs. "On foot."

The Altonoid tilts his head a little to the side. "It was you. You sabotaged the lights."

Rinckes takes an unsteady step closer, making the Altonoid cringe back against the console. He presses the muzzle of the rifle against the Altonoid's forehead and makes no effort to hide the tiredness in his voice when he says, "Have you seen a blonde, female officer in a command uniform around here?"

"No. I don't know what you're talking about. Please, don't hurt me. I'll tell you everything I know. But I don't know anything about a female officer. You've got to believe me."

Rinckes is about to back off, but then he notices that the Altonoid is reaching for a weapon. Just when the Altonoid grabs the phaser from his belt, Captain Rinckes shoots him from point-blank range. The dead Altonoid slumps back against the console like a ragdoll.

After pushing the dead Altonoid aside, Rinckes quickly seals off the door to this room and restores power to the lighting system. He has made it this far, but he's not ready for celebrations just yet. Only now does he notice the toll all this stress is taking on him. His hands are sweaty and shaking, his stomach and chest hurt like crazy and the sudden increase in dizziness is debilitating. He removes the droplets of sweat that sting his narrow eyes and sits down for a moment, next to the Altonoid's motionless corpse. After a deep sigh, Rinckes collects his strength, crawls into the nearby Jefferies tube, and continues his search for Commander Simons.

* * *

Lieutenant Norbert Hoper, Chief of Security of the _USS Wolf_, leans back against a bulkhead in a quiet corridor on Station A-12. He, Commander Tony Q, Doctor Rose van Oers, Lieutenant Steven Appels, and six accompanying security officers have found a relatively quiet area where they can catch their breath. However, the strong, black, narrow-faced Lieutenant Hoper doesn't like to just stand there and wait, so he decides to check in on the other security squads. "Lieutenant Hoper to squad 4-A. Report in."

"_Odell checking in. Still no luck,_" they hear. "_We'll inform you once the situation changes._"

"Lieutenant Hoper to squad 4-B. Report in."

"_Lohmann checking in. This is not a good time. We're pinned down in computer room 4._"

"Lieutenant Hoper to squad 4-C. Report in."

"_Hasder checking in. We're… Oh damn! More of them!_"followed by a lot of phaser fire and screaming…

"This is Lt. Hoper to squad 4-D. Report in?"

Silence.

"This is Lt. Hoper to squad 4-Delta. Please respond!"

Nothing.

"This is Lt. Hoper to sq---"

"Perhaps it would be better if you'd stop asking your squads for a report," the young Commander Tony Q says. Hoper responds with a scowl, but Tony continues nevertheless. "It doesn't seem to be very helpful nor morale boosting."

Lt. Hoper's scowl fades. Tony has a point there. They have been running around for a while now, trying to find the hostage room shield array, but all they've found so far are trigger-happy Altonoids and dead Starfleet officers…

"Lieutenant Appels," one of the security officers says. He's holding a tricorder that's pointed at the nearest door.

"What is it, Ensign Lucas?" the short, muscular Steven Appels asks.

"The next room is perfectly suitable for housing a small shield array. I think we should investigate it, sir." The tall, Latino Ensign rarely speaks up, but when he does, he usually has something useful to say.

Dr. Van Oers points her medical tricorder at the door. "I'm reading no life signs in that room."

"Alright. Lead the way, Mr. Lucas," Lt. Appels says.

Ensign Lucas opens the door to a rectangular storage room that's about as big as the conference room, albeit with a much higher ceiling. Several kinds of engineering equipment lie stacked in many crates. The room –which is surprisingly dark by Federation standards– contains lots of places to hide a small shield array…

The group enters the room and they start searching the place. "This is nice," Commander Tony Q says as he looks around. "So where do you suppose they're hiding that shield generator?"

They all wander through the room carefully, in search for anything that might lead them to the shield array. Lieutenant Clayton –with forty-one years of age the oldest security officer in this group- takes a closer look at the door they all just passed through. "The lock on this door is malfunctioning. We won't be going back this way," he says, slightly alarmed.

"And it's a bit too quiet here for my taste…" Lt. Appels says.

"Relax. My tricorder reads nothing," Dr. Van Oers says. She frowns. "Absolutely nothing at all. It's not even registering the nearby crates."

"Then there must be a dampening field in place," Tony Q says calmly. Suddenly, he realizes what he has just said...

The gruff, seasoned Lieutenant Hoper charges his rifle. "I knew it… It's a trap!"

All officers ready their phaser rifles. All but the unarmed Doctor. "The tricorder still reads nothing," she says, while Tony Q spots an Altonoid who's partially hidden by a crate behind the Doctor. The Altonoid is aiming his phaser rifle at her!

"Look out!" Tony Q shouts and he quickly aims his rifle and shoots the Altonoid. Before that Altonoid hits the ground, several more Altonoids jump out from nowhere and start attacking the Starfleet officers.

One unlucky Ensign gets hit in the chest by a phaser beam and gets thrown into the air, only to land on the ground with a gaping hole in his chest. Lt. Hoper and Lt. Appels skillfully mow down a good number of Altonoids. The two are very experienced and capable security officers, and an ambush like this gives them the chance to put their skills to the test. However, they can't prevent the death of another member of their security force.

Another Altonoid emerges from behind a crate and knocks dead an unsuspecting security officer with a mighty swing of his rifle. The Altonoid has no time to gloat because the nearby Lt. Clayton shoots him immediately.

Yet another Altonoid and Ensign Lucas have been fighting hand to hand for a while, with their fallen phaser rifles lying out of reach. Ensign Lucas manages to give the Altonoid some good punches and finishes the job with one great strike to the jaw. The Altonoid lands on his back and goes silent…

One of the remaining two Altonoids aims for Lt. Hoper, but Hoper is quicker on the trigger. The last Altonoid is shot by the young, brown-haired Ensign Emily Murphy, who hits the Altonoid with her rifle first, only to shoot him down moments later while the Altonoid is still disorientated by the blow.

Doctor Van Oers rushes over to the nearest hit Ensign and reaches for his neck as she crouches down. Lt. Appels gives her an inquiring look. Just when the Doctor wants to shake her head and pronounce the Ensign's death, practically the entire bulkhead across the room starts to open slowly. It's basically one massive door that leads to another similar room; a room that's crowded with armed Altonoids who eagerly point their rifles at the remaining Starfleet officers. Luckily, there's a significant number of crates lined up in the room the Starfleet officers are standing in. It's not an ideal buffer, but it will have to do because the Altonoids open fire immediately.

"Get to cover!" Lt. Appels shouts while he lunges for one of the crates.

They take cover, but Lt. Clayton doesn't make it in time and gets shot by a barrage of enemy phaser fire…

The six remaining officers hide behind four groups of two crates. There are many, many Altonoids standing on different levels in the other large room. They aim carefully and attempt to snipe all Starfleet officers with their Altonoid phaser rifles.

Ensign Murphy hides with her back to one of the crates, ready to take down an Altonoid whenever she can. She collects all her courage and turns around to face the Altonoids, utilizing a gap between the two crates to shoot back.

Lt. Appels and Lt. Hoper are hiding behind the next pair of crates. They return fire now and then, but there is just too much enemy fire.

The third pair of crates protect Tony Q and Dr. Van Oers. Tony Q returns fire frequently, but Dr. Van Oers is unarmed and attempts to make herself as small as possible while she can hear the deafening sounds of buckling metal and phaser fire around her.

Ensign Lucas is hiding behind the last group of crates.

There are so many Altonoids that it's difficult for the officers to find a relatively safe moment to return fire. The noise of continuous phaser fire is incredible but pales in comparison with the utter direness of the situation. There seems to be no way out.

Lt. Hoper quickly looks around the corner. He turns to face Lt. Appels, who's checking the settings on his phaser rifle. "I can't even count them," Lt. Hoper says.

"Isn't that the definition of being outnumbered?" Lt. Appels responds.

One of the crates Ensign Murphy is hiding behind can't take the beating anymore and blows up. Debris gets hurled away and some of it hits Ensign Murphy in the head, knocking her over. The remains of the crate and its contents bury her immediately. With her out of the way, the Altonoids focus their efforts on the other five Starfleet officers.

"We ought to surrender," Lt. Appels sighs. Lt. Hoper gazes back at him, and Appels can see that Hoper is thinking about possible solutions. However, the noise of a nearby buckling crate distracts Hoper. When he gauges where the noise is coming from, he sees that Dr. Van Oers is in serious danger.

Tony Q notices the crate next to him is about to explode in the Doctor's face! A group of Altonoids notice it too and concentrate their fire on that crate. Rose Van Oers' situation has become pretty dire! Tony thinks for a split-second and then pulls Dr. Van Oers behind his own crate. Now the only hiding place left for him is the buckling crate. He crouches down behind it and makes himself as small as possible.

The crate can't take all the phaser fire anymore and gets torn apart in a final explosion. Tony manages to evade most of the debris and gets up. He aims his rifle carefully and shoots down a couple of Altonoids.

"Get down!" Lt. Hoper shouts at the top of his lungs.

"Don't worry!" Tony Q shouts back while he dodges the incoming phaser fire. "The Continuum won't let anything h---" Tony can't finish his sentence… A phaser beam hits him right above his right hip. Tony lets go off his rifle and literally gets knocked sideways. His hands grasp nothing but air as he twists a full circle while descending to the ground, only to land on his back and be silent… There's a look of incomprehension on his face and his uniform is scorched above his right hip, revealing a smoldering phaser wound.

"Tony!" Dr. Van Oers shouts. She tries to reach him, he's only a meter away, but the Altonoids block her with phaser fire. Luckily, the other Starfleet officers open fire simultaneously. This diverts the Altonoids' attention, enabling Rose to pull Tony to safety. But for how long? The crate hardly provides enough cover for the two of them and it isn't going to hold forever...

"Tony! Can you hear me?!" Dr. Van Oers shouts. There's no response…

The Altonoids show no intention of ceasing their onslaught and Ensign Lucas, Lt. Hoper, and Lt. Appels are the only Starfleet officers who can return fire at the moment. The situation looks very, very dim…

Lt. Hoper and Lt. Appels appear to be attracting the heaviest fire at the moment. A phaser beam flies through the gap between the two crates they hide behind. Lieutenant Appels can barely avoid it by ducking away. Norbert Hoper looks back at Appels and says, "We won't make it like this…" His voice forms a great contrast with the enormous sounds of phaser fire and destruction. Appels replies with a quick nod. "The Altonoids had trouble opening that big door," Hoper continues. "Or they would've opened it sooner. Anyhow, it must be closed again."

Appels frowns. "Too risky. We better stay put, or find a way out."

"Wake up, Lieutenant. There is no quick way out. If we don't get that door closed… we'll all die here."

Appels remains silent and stares at the buckling crate in front of him.

Hoper presses his combadge. "Lieutenant Hoper to Ensign Lucas. We need a diversion. Understood?" A few crates away, past the Doctor and the fallen Tony Q, they see Ensign Lucas replying with a nod. Lucas moves up and opens fire at the Altonoids.

The Altonoids concentrate their fire on Ensign Lucas, forcing him into hiding again. But as soon as the firing mellows a bit, the valiant Ensign reappears and shoots back.

Hoper suddenly moves to the side of his crate and mouths, "Cover me!" He leaves cover and runs towards the left side of the room. Lt. Appels leaves his cover too and starts shooting the Altonoids before they can start shooting back.

Lt. Hoper and Lt. Appels reach a small LCARS display to the left of the large doorway. The two security officers are protected by the narrow left bulkhead that keeps both officers out of visual range. At least until armed Altonoids start peeking around the doorway. Then they'll have no place to hide...

Lt. Hoper tries to close the big door, but to no avail… "I'm locked out, dammit!" When he turns to face Lt. Appels, he sees Ensign Lucas' crate getting blown up by Altonoid phaser fire. This leaves Ensign Lucas very vulnerable.

"There's another door control on the other side of this bulkhead," Hoper says.

"But that room is swarming with Altonoids," Appels replies.

With a determined look on his face, Lt. Hoper raises his phaser rifle and walks past his colleague. He calmly enters the enormous doorway, lifts his rifle, and kills several Altonoids in cold blood. Lt. Appels understands the plan and follows the other brave Lieutenant into the Altonoid room. Ensign Lucas has hidden behind the crate Lt. Hoper used to hide behind and provides much-needed distraction.

Lt. Hoper and Lt. Appels dodge incoming fire and are happy to return the favor. The two officers manage to reach the LCARS display and Hoper accesses it. Luckily, a nearby stack of equipment blocks most of the Altonoids from getting a clear shot at them. Hoper smiles when he sees that this door control is functioning as it should. He types in an encryption code and presses a big red button on the LCARS display.

The big door starts coming down. Hoper quickly moves towards the slowly closing door and gestures Lt. Appels to do the same. They don't even notice that the Altonoids have stopped firing, as they exit the Altonoid room and re-enter the room where Ensign Lucas, Dr. Van Oers and the wounded Tony Q are in.

"That was a close call," Lt. Appels says while he smiles in relief. Lt. Hoper gives Appels a friendly pat on the shoulder. At that exact moment, the door halts, and moves up again…

Dr. Van Oers looks up for a moment and sees the door opening again. "That can't be good," she remarks.

"It seems the Altonoids are smarter than we thought," Lt. Appels says wryly. "We must really lock them in this time."

Lt. Hoper nods briefly. "We must seal all doors to their room and get a better encryption code on the door control and close off communication systems in that chamber."

"Agreed," Appels says. The two officers ready their rifles and re-enter the Altonoid room, only to meet with heavy resistance. They return fire and run for the LCARS display once again. Lt. Hoper accesses the LCARS display, while Appels tries to keep the Altonoids at bay. Ensign Lucas' back-up is also much appreciated. It draws away a great portion of enemy fire. A good number of Altonoids have already perished, but clunking footsteps betray that more Altonoids are on the way. The two valiant Starfleet officers are living on borrowed time.

"First the door must be closed. Only then can the Altonoids be permanently locked in," Hoper says.

Lt. Appels remains silent for a short while and then says with a sigh, "I did assume this was a one way trip."

"What do you mean?" Hoper responds. "I'll do it. I'll stay here. You get back to the others." The clunking footsteps in the background are getting louder and louder.

"No way. Our success is very important," Appels responds. An Altonoid appears from behind the stack of equipment. Appels shoots him immediately. "If we fail, we're all done for."

Lt. Hoper presses the big red button and the door starts to close again. "Go! That's an order! The others need you. We can't let an Ensign lead the security team."

"I'm staying here to provide back-up. Ensign Marc Lucas is a very capable officer. And you can't order me around. We have the same rank, Lieutenant!" With that, Lt. Appels turns to face Lt. Hoper.

Getting punched in the face is the last thing Appels expected. He can barely remain standing after that mighty blow, while Lt. Hoper shakes off the pain in his right fist and pushes the unsteady Appels towards the closing door. Before the dazed Lieutenant Appels can even think about resisting, Hoper has already pushed him into the other room.

Once Lt. Hoper's grasps releases him, Lt. Appels immediately turns around. The eyes of both security officers meet one last time before the door prohibits their view of each other. Appels won't soon forget that determined though saddened look on Hoper's face. Before the door has closed completely, Hoper turns around and runs for the LCARS display.

The large door closes with a final loud thump… Lt. Appels stares at the closed door and doesn't move a muscle. He frankly doesn't know what to do or say… Then, he hears a large clunk, as if the door is being locked. He can hear muffled shouting and increasing phaser fire.

After a handful of seconds that seem like an eternity, the phaser fire stops…

The big door doesn't open…

Ensign Lucas walks over to Lieutenant Appels, who's still staring at the door. "What the hell happened?"

"Bravery," Lt. Appels says. Then he awakes from his 'trance' and faces Ensign Lucas. "Or stupidity. That doesn't matter in the end. The outcome remains: he saved our lives at the cost of his own."

A couple of feet away, Tony Q is still lying on the ground near the crate he used for cover with Dr. Rose Van Oers by his side to take care of his phaser wound. Tony moans and whines in agony.

"What's his status?" Lt. Appels asks as he joins the little 'party'.

"They didn't hit any vital organs. He was lucky," Dr. Van Oers says as she picks up some more equipment from her medkit.

"Lucky?!" Tony Q exclaims, which causes him even more pain.

"He has suffered severe phaser burns and some bruises, but I've managed to stabilize him," Rose says. "It could've been worse. Perhaps you're still immortal, Tony."

"I don't think so. If I were immortal I shouldn't have been injured by a phaser beam. If that Altonoid had aimed any higher, I would've been dead."

"If that Altonoid had aimed any lower, you would've had a high voice," Lt. Appels replies dryly.

Tony gives him the evil eye. Once again, a bout of pain reminds him of his injury. "I think we know now that I'm no longer immortal…"

"I thought the Altonoids wouldn't shoot at Commanders," Ensign Lucas says, trying to change the subject a little.

"Great. I just encountered the one near-sighted Altonoid on the entire station."

"I don't think they mind anymore," Lt. Appels says. "They just shoot at whatever wears a Starfleet uniform. I can't help but wonder what drives the Altonoids to behave like they do. Their motivations seem so unclear…"

"As happens too often in war," Ensign Lucas says. "Or is it just that war happens too often?"

"Was it your idea to take oracle Lucas with us, Lieutenant Appels?" Tony says, sarcasm mode still functioning. "If so, I thank you. Where would we be without his insights… Ouch!"

"Hold still," Dr. Van Oers says. She takes the dermal regenerator and hovers it over Tony's phaser wound. The wound gets healed considerably, displaying the hole of at least 3 inches in diameter in Tony's shirt profoundly, and showing Tony's semi-healed skin underneath it.

Tony lifts his head to see the tear in his uniform and says, "Oh great… One minute of battle and I've already managed to tear my shirt. Captain Kirk would've been proud of me…"

Lt. Appels disregards that remark and asks the Doctor, "Can he walk?"

"Well, he is out of immediate danger, but walking will be extremely difficult for now. I'll need to perform surgery."

"I'm feeling better already," Tony says timidly.

"So he'll only hold us up if we're to take him with us?" Lt. Appels asks.

Dr. Van Oers gives him a reluctant nod.

"This room is the most secure location right now, in my opinion," Appels continues. "So he can stay here until help arrives."

After having witnessed that last piece of dialogue, Tony lifts a feeble index finger and says, "Uhm… Isn't this the part where _I_ beg you to go on without me?"

"Sorry, Commander. But time is of the essence right now," Lt. Appels says.

"Alright," Dr. Van Oers says while she leans over to Tony. "You'll have to stay here. We'll come back for you."

"Please do," Tony says with a slight tremble in his voice.

"We must be on our way again," Lt. Appels says. His impatience has reached critical levels. "We're searching for the hostage room shield emitter, remember? Ensign Lucas, start finding a way out of here. Doctor, please pick up a weapon and follow us."

Lucas complies, but Dr. Van Oers looks hesitant.

"What? Got a problem with that?" Lt. Appels asks.

"I'm a doctor, not a mercenary," Dr. Van Oers says. "I'd rather not use weaponry."

"Dammit, Rose. We need your help."

"I didn't say I didn't want to help you. I said I'd prefer not to use weaponry," Dr. Van Oers says as she raises her voice slightly.

"Preferences work nicely when you're safe on board your own ship, when the worst thing that can happen is that some Ensign gets the flu. But that doesn't work when you're out here. We're in a war! You're a Starfleet officer, for crying out loud!"

"Hey, don't make me come over to you two," the wounded Tony Q softly says.

Lt. Appels continues his speech directed at the Doctor. "You may have the rank of Commander, but I'm the leader of this away team. And I'm ordering you to pick up a weapon and assist us."

Dr. Van Oers looks around and sees the still bodies that belonged to Altonoids and Starfleet officers. "Look! Look at what fighting has brought us! And for what? We kill them, they kill us and vice versa." She sighs deeply before continuing. "Let me help you by doing what I'm best at. Let me help you _save_ lives."

A moment of silence passes.

"But you _can_ save lives! Billions of lives depend on our actions today, and the same goes for the future of the Federation. The Altonoids have invaded our space with violence. The only way to repel them is with violence… We have no choice. We have fought for our ideals so many times before. Against Romulans, the Dominion, the Borg… We will fight for the ideals we have cherished all of our lives. We will fight for the ideals of the Federation. And whether we succeed or not, at least we can say: we've fought!"

Another moment of silence…

"That's what's frightening me," Dr. Van Oers says as she sticks her chin up. "The Altonoids also think that they're fighting for the right cause, whatever it may be. That's what always happens in war. There are never real 'bad guys'."

Appels lets the words seep in for a moment. "You are right, Doctor. However, the fact remains that the Altonoids are the aggressors, and they've invaded our peace and safety, and they are going to do a lot more killing if we'd let them have their way. Do you think they'll stop after they've taken over this station?"

"No…" the Doctor admits.

"They will no doubt try to undermine the entire Federation and conquer it. They will enslave the few survivors and send them to the dilithium mines, if they're lucky… So, you have vowed to serve Starfleet and to protect its citizens. This is your chance. No, this is your duty!" He points at the nearest phaser rifle. "You know what to do."

Silently, Dr. Van Oers walks over to the motionless Lt. Clayton. His dead, wide eyes stare at the ceiling, and his hands are still clamped around his phaser rifle –the same weapon that couldn't prevent his death. She grabs hold of the rifle and carefully pulls it out of the dead officer's hands. A quick check of the rifle proves that it's still completely intact. When she glances over the rifle's scope, she can see Lt. Appels nodding in approval.

Tony looks at the armed Doctor. "Good luck, G.I. Jane," he says with a smile.

"Thanks," the Doctor replies. "Don't go anywhere. You're relatively safe here."

"Relatively…" Tony replies as his smile dissipates.

Dr. Van Oers turns around and sees that Ensign Lucas has managed to open the door they used to enter the room. The three Starfleet officers leave the room, leaving Tony Q and a lot of still Altonoids and Starfleet officers behind…

* * *

The _USS Kennedy_, the _Wolf_ and the two remaining parts of the _Sundance_ have been fighting the second _Massal_ for a while now. The other _Massal_ hasn't participated in the fight since the arrival of its sister ship. Any repairs must be complete by now, so having the vessel watch from the sidelines probably stems from the Altonoids' sheer confidence in their powerful position.

Letor Fune witnesses the battle from the safe confines of the conference room. Everything is going according to plan, and by now the four captured officers have grown sick and tired of that constant self-righteous grin on his face.

The Altonoid with the bandage on his hand accesses an LCARS display on the wall and says, "Fune! We've received a message from Admiral Owen Paris. He says the Federation is willing to negotiate."

Letor Fune keeps his eyes fixed on the space battle and says, "Tell them we're having problems with our communications array. We cannot read their messages properly. We'll get back to them."

"Yes, sir." The Altonoid quickly types the message. "Message sent."

Fune looks at the flag officers and says with a wry grin, "We'll get back to them once we've purged the station of every bit of resistance."

* * *

The engines of the _USS Kennedy_ seem to be working again and the ship is trying to be an active participant in this battle, despite all the damage it has already suffered. OPS Officer Sven Muntenaar reports, "The Altonoids are sending a message to Starbase 9."

"What are they saying?" Lt. Sivar asks.

"They say they're having problems with their communications array."

"Right…" Lt. Malin adds, even though she's busy trying to prevent the ship from being hit by those strong Altonoid phaser beams.

Lt. Muntenaar shakes his head. "It appears they want to fight this out before they'll even open negotiations. And I wonder if they are willing to commence negotiations in the first place…"

"Speculation will not help us at this time. Keep evading incoming fire," Lt. Sivar says coolly.

"What do you think I'm doing?!" Lt. Malin replies. An enemy phaser strike hits target and the bridge rocks violently. One of the few consoles that have remained operative sends out a series of sparks.

"_Engineering to bridge,_"they hear Chief Engineer Lt. Cmdr. Soeteman say over the comm system. "_Structural integrity is down to 16%. I've managed to divert a bit more power to the structural integrity field. I don't know how long it will hold, but it's better than nothing,_"

"Thank you, Commander," Lt. Sivar says. "It is imperative that we keep the ship together. However, it is also of vital importance to fire at the upgraded _Massal_-class Altonoid ship as frequently as possible."

"I'll take that as an order," Ensign Parkin says with a faint smile. The _USS Kennedy_ flies past the large _Massal_, rolls to the left to evade four Altonoid phaser beams targeting the tertiary section of the _USS Sundance_, and fires its ventral phasers.

* * *

On the bridge of the _USS Sundance_:

"The hull of our tertiary section is buckling, sir," the science officer of the _Prometheus_-class _USS Sundance_ says.

The Bolian Lieutenant Broitz doesn't react and stares at the viewscreen, which displays the tertiary section getting pounded on by four strong Altonoid phaser beams. They've already lost the middle section of their ship right at the start of this battle, immediately after ordering the ship to separate into three battle-worthy sections. Now he's about to lose the lower section as well… There must be a way to save it, some order that will save the day, but his mind has gone completely blank.

"Its shields are failing!" the science officer shouts.

Broitz continues to stare at the viewscreen and witnesses the phaser beams slowly cutting its way through the hull plating of the tertiary section…

* * *

It is obvious that the _USS Wolf_ has also sustained damage, because the bridge isn't in shipshape condition anymore. The bridge crew witness the imminent destruction of the tertiary part of the _Sundance_. If that sections blows up, the separated saucer of the _Sundance_ will be all that remains of Captain Rinckes' vessel.

"Dammit, we've got to do something!" Cmdr. Anderson swears.

"I've heard those words before," the Commander hears. He looks to his left and sees the tall Captain Suzan Reynolds standing next to him. Almost getting blown off her ship has certainly left some impact on her otherwise pristine appearance, but the fire in her eyes burns so strongly that she looks nothing short of invincible.

"Captain?" Lt. Cmdr. Anderson asks, unable to hide his amazement. It would seem that the Captain of the late _Satellite_ didn't like the idea of waiting out the battle from sickbay.

"Thanks for warming up the chair for me," Captain Reynolds says.

Leif Anderson understands. He stands up and makes way for the new temporary Captain.

Lt. Stephanie Grant can't suppress a proud smile as Captain Suzan Reynolds sits down in the Captain's chair of the _USS Wolf_. The Captain presses a button on the side of her new chair and says, "All hands, this is Captain Reynolds. As of this moment, I'm taking command of the fleet_._" Lt. Grant makes sure that the message also gets transmitted to the _Sundance_ and _Kennedy_. "I can't guarantee we'll be victorious, but I'm sure we _can_ and _will_ give the Altonoids hell!"


	5. Chapter 5

"FALLEN HEROES"  
by Alex Lampe

PART I – CHAPTER V

At the start of the battle, the _USS Sundance_ initiated Multi Vector Assault Mode and split into three battle-ready sections. The middle section was destroyed embarrassingly early on and now the lower section seems to be next. It hangs motionlessly in space and a growing number of hull breaches betray that its structural integrity is failing. The bridge crews of the _Kennedy_,the _Wolf _andthe saucer of the _Sundance _have to watch helplessly as the lower section of the _Sundance_ bursts into flames. They see her hull tearing itself apart and the interior of the ship decompressing deck by deck, until she has togive in to the laws of physics and blows up to form an impressive but meaningless shockwave.

* * *

Onboard the _USS Wolf_:

"Three green bottles hanging on the wall..." Lt. Cmdr. Leif Anderson softly sings with an eerie tone in his voice. He has taken control of tactical again, now that Captain Suzan Reynolds has taken command of the small fleet. He looks at the tall Captain with her long chestnut hair and notices that she exudes enough confidence and leadership to make it look like she's been in command of this vessel for years, even though she first set foot on this bridge about a minute ago.

"Open fire at the lead _Massal_," Captain Reynolds says. Silently, she adds, "What is taking them so long?"

Her words were loud enough to pique the Swedish Lt. Cmdr. Anderson's interest. "Excuse me?" he inquires.

"That information is classified," Captain Reynolds replies briskly. The lead _Massal_ directs its four phaser beams at the _USS Wolf_, making the bridge shudder dangerously. Another console gives up the fight and explodes in an unlucky Ensign's face. "But I'll tell you anyway, because you all have the right to know and I don't think I'll be facing a court martial any time soon." She hasn't lost her usual wit.

"We won't tell anyone," science officer Ensign Mick Daniels says with a subtle smile.

"There should've been a rather nice fleet just out of sensor range in case the diplomatic meeting went wrong," Captain Reynolds says. "You don't think my late _USS Satellite_ was our only back-up plan, now do you?"

Another console gives up the struggle and dims as the bridge continues to shake. "Figures. But where the hell are they then?" the blonde Lt. Stephanie Grant asks while she holds on to her helm station in front of the bridge.

Captain Reynolds grimaces. "That's what I'd like to know too. When the Altonoids sent out their first message, it should have alerted the fleet. This is taking way too long."

"So much for the pending deus ex machina…" Lt. Cmdr. Anderson sighs.

"I hate to interrupt this little intermezzo," Ensign Daniels says, "but I thought you might be interested in hearing our troop reports."

"Another time, Ensign," Captain Reynolds says. "We're quite busy here."

"I'd like to hear it anyway, Daniels," Lt. Cmdr. Anderson says. When he sees the Captain is scowling at him, he adds apologetically, "It might be important."

After the Captain gives Anderson a reluctant nod, Ensign Daniels begins to summarize the troop reports. "The remains of our troops still haven't found the hostage room shield array, because they constantly find themselves struggling with an abundance of Altonoids. They've also encountered many dead Starfleet officers and identified some of them as crewmembers of Station A-12. They doubt they will be able to secure the station or find the shield array before it's too late, but they will not give up."

Everyone is silent for a moment, despite the hammering the _Wolf_ is taking. Everyone watches Captain Reynolds to await her next move.

Finally, she speaks up. "Alright, guys. We don't want our troops to be fighting in vain. Initiate attack pattern Worf 4-Gamma."

It's all they needed to hear.

* * *

Captain Stephan Rinckes crawls through one of the station's many Jefferies tubes, until he reaches its end. He holds on tight to his phaser rifle and presses a small LCARS panel with his free hand to open the Jefferies tube's exit hatch. Immediately, he spots three Altonoids standing in the corridor. The sound of the opening hatch also makes sure that the three Altonoids immediately spot him…

Rinckes doesn't hesitate for one second and fires his phaser rifle at the closest Altonoid. Before that Altonoid can even hit the ground, Rinckes leaps out of the Jefferies tube. He absorbs the impact with the floor by rolling forward and then knocks the left Altonoid off his feet with a low spinning sweep kick. Once the Captain has finished that rotation, he stands up without losing momentum and shoots the other Altonoid without even looking at him.

Captain Rinckes is breathing rather heavily after this nice maneuver and his uniform is scorched and torn in places, revealing that he's had to fight more Altonoids along the way. His dark blond hair is somewhat of a mess.

But that look on his face… It shows both agony and sheer determination…

He looks around a bit, deciding whether to go left or right. Near him lies a dead female Starfleet officer. It's not Commander Melanie Simons. It's someone else; someone he doesn't know. It reminds him of the grim possibility that Melanie might have been killed already. The mere thought of her lying dead in some corridor –like this unfortunate woman–makes him grit his teeth. He _is_ going to find Melanie Simons, even if he'll have to fight every damn Altonoid on the station to get to her.

He spots the Altonoid he just kicked off his feet. The Altonoid is lying on the floor, holding on to his painful shins. The Captain grabs him by the collar and lifts him up, fueled by adrenaline. "Tell me," Rinckes says threateningly, "have you seen Commander Simons passing through this area?"

"You must be Captain Rinckes." Despite the fact that Rinckes is nearly choking him, the Altonoid brings up a smile. "You won't get far. These decks are swarming with us."

"That's not what I asked!" Rinckes bellows. "I asked…" He tightens his grip around the Altonoid's collar and his tone of voice becomes even more threatening. "Have you seen Commander Simons passing through this area?"

The Altonoid can barely take in enough air to emit a simple cough. He manages to say, "I saw _her_." He looks over to the nearby dead officer. "And I shot her!" The pride in his voice is equaled only by his challenging tone.

Rage overrides all of the Captain's senses. "That's not her!" He shoves the Altonoid against the bulkhead without letting go.

"Alright, alright," the Altonoid shrills. "We're trying to track her down as we speak. We've received orders to do so."

"Go on," Captain Rinckes loosens his grip slightly.

"She was last seen in the observation lounge of this deck," the Altonoid says. "But you're too late anyway. I already called for back-up."

Rinckes' face fills with hatred again as he releases the Altonoid with such force that he smashes against the bulkhead and passes out. Without giving him a second glance, Captain Rinckes readies his rifle again and heads for the observation lounge.

* * *

The wounded Tony Q is the only one alive -or conscious, at least- in the large room he's in. He finds himself surrounded by slain Altonoids and Starfleet officers. The big door behind Tony hasn't opened again ever since Lieutenant Hoper shut it, so Tony is relatively safe. Safe… He doesn't feel safe…

He touches the phaser wound above his right hip and cringes in pain. Doctor Van Oers stabilized him before she left, and the wound isn't potentially lethal anymore, but it still hurts like hell. If he ever makes it out of this station alive, he will have to undergo surgery, that's for certain.

Now that he's lying there with some time to kill, he notices there are a few rather large gaps in the ceiling. It looks like there's some kind of maintenance room above this deck. Well, studying this area's architectural lay-out isn't exactly a priority at the moment.

With a great deal of effort, Tony sits up and leans his back against a crate that's had its share of phaser fire. He looks at the dead Starfleet officers lying around him. "Poor souls," Tony mutters. "Poor, mortal souls. Why did I have to become like you? All I did was help the Federation, help my friends in need. And what do I get in return? The Q Continuum strip me of my powers." There's a pained, frightened look on his face that betrays how young Tony really is, now that he finds himself bereft of all his usual bravado.

"Tell me, Q!" he raises his voice as much as the pain allows. "Why didn't you do anything?" His words echo into nothingness. "I know you tried to stop me… But what if my cause was worth fighting for? Do I really deserve lying here? Wounded. Defeated. Overcome… Human again!"

Silence…

"I didn't know what it was like to be human, fragile again," he says as he looks down at his phaser wound. "Why didn't you help me? Why did you let them shoot me? Why didn't you stand up for me when the Q Continuum kicked me out? Why don't you answer me?" The pain wins the battle against his lungs again. He grabs his phaser wound and continues to sob.

Suddenly, Tony spots a shadow moving across the room. Tony narrows his eyes and sees that it's an Altonoid who has regained consciousness! The Altonoid is aiming his rifle at him! With a lot of effort, the startled Tony rolls to the right. Pieces of debris stab him in the legs, but it's worth the pain because an Altonoid phaser beam misses him with millimeters to spare. After completing his painful evasive maneuver, Tony searches for his hand phaser. He grabs it from its holster, aims it and fires. The approaching Altonoid gets hit in the chest and slumps to the ground.

The shocked Tony doesn't move for a few seconds. He still has his rifle trained on the dead Altonoid. "Alright, that's it," Tony decides. "I'm getting out of here." He carefully plucks a piece of crate out of his leg and starts crawling towards the exit. He gives the shot Altonoid a lot of room, just to be safe…

He crawls over a rather large chunk of debris that belonged to a crate. Just when he shifts his weight onto it, he hears a moan. Startled, he immediately crawls back a bit and stays silent for a moment. Then, carefully, he presses a hand against the debris. Another sound! Tony slowly lifts up the chunk of debris and points his phaser at… Ensign Murphy! She's got scratches and bruises on her face, but it looks as though she has regained consciousness. Tony utilizes the little strength he has left to lift the remains of the crate and its contents off the unfortunate Ensign.

Ensign Murphy sits up. Her uniform is stained and scratched, and her long, brown hair is a mess. She coughs and greets Tony with a solemn, "Commander…"

"Are you alright?" Tony asks as he crawls closer to her. "Ensign… Ensign Murphy, right?"

"Ensign Emily C. Murphy, sir." She looks around. "Did I miss anything?"

Tony looks around too for a moment and sighs, "You might say that."

"Are we the only survivors?"

"No. Lieutenant Appels, Doctor Van Oers and Ensign Lucas are still running around somewhere… We better get out of here. It won't be much safer outside, but I've seen enough here. This place is giving me the creeps."

"I know what you mean. It's not exactly filled with happy memories," Ensign Murphy says with a faint smile.

Tony replies with a brief smile, before saying, "I must apologize for my lack of medical skills but I assume you can walk?"

"I can walk," Ensign Murphy says as she stands up. When she sees that Tony makes no effort to stand up, she asks, "But can you? You're wounded!"

"No kidding."

"I don't understand. Aren't you supposed to be a Q?" Ensign Murphy asks as she reaches for Tony.

"Not anymore…" Tony says with a bit too much regret showing in his voice. "Let's just get out of here, shall we? There's more I should tell you."

* * *

Four massive phaser beams glide over the hull of the _USS Wolf_, inflicting some serious damage on that _Akira_-class starship. Yet, the four phaser beams cease attacking the _Wolf _quickly enough and find a new target in the last remaining part of the _USS Sundance_: its saucer section. To make matters worse, the first _Massal_ has rejoined the battle and is attacking the _Kennedy_.

The bridge of the _USS Wolf_ is still shaking from the last attack, and some of the lights go down. This makes the eerie light coming from the red alert panels stand out even more. The bridge is damaged, but remains largely operational.

Lt. Cmdr. Anderson regains his balance and says, "That last hit almost breached through our hull. Lining up port torpedoes."

"Divert more power to the shields," Captain Suzan Reynolds says. "Lieutenant, give me a casualty report."

"Our casualties have been light thus far," Lt. Stephanie Grant says. "Decks four and fi--- Wait. We're being hailed by the _Kennedy_."

"Well, put them on screen," Captain Reynolds says. She stands up, revealing once again how tall and slender she is.

The Vulcan Lt. Sivar and the severely battered bridge around him appear on the viewscreen. The bridge of the _USS Kennedy_ is by no means brighter than that of the _Wolf._

"Can you still keep the ship together, Lieutenant?" Captain Reynolds asks.

"Hardly, Captain, as you may have noticed by observing my immediate surroundings," Lt. Sivar says, while Ensign Parkin topples over his tactical station in the background. The last sparks fly off a damaged wall panel due to a weapon strike, and Lt. Sivar can barely hold on to his Captain's chair. "Captain, I must advise you to order what remains of our fleet to withdraw."

Captain Reynolds is somewhat surprised. "You mean we should give up?"

"That is one possible interpretation of my statement," Sivar replies. "Logic dictates that if there is no possible way to win a battle, we should not risk the lives of our crews in a last desperate attempt to achieve the unachievable "

"There's another battle being fought right now, Lieutenant," Captain Reynolds sharply replies. "The battle on that station we're defending. Hundreds of Starfleet officers are fighting there for us. We won't abandon them. More lives are at stake here than yours and mine."

"Captain. I did not mea---"

"I think I've made myself quite clear, Lieutenant." Captain Reynolds sits down in her chair. As far as she's concerned, this argument is over. "The only way to guarantee a lost battle is by giving up, and I'm not going to do that. The odds may be against us, but history has shown time and again that's never been a good reason to quit."

"As you wish, Captain," Lt. Sivar says with no apparent emotion. He ends the transmission and the viewscreen is filled with the fierce battle again.

* * *

A few Starfleet engineers are desperately attempting to fix the dark and quite shattered bridge of the _Kennedy_ for at least a slight bit. Lt. Malin and Lt. Muntenaar are trying to keep up with the information their stations in front of the bridge keep feeding them, while Ensign Parkin is attempting every evasive maneuver he has ever learned at the Academy – not too long ago. Lt. Sivar is sitting on his chair as if it were any ordinary day, even though the bridge is shuddering violently enough to make even the most experienced hovercoaster tester feel a bit queasy.

"That first _Massal_ sure is giving us a run for our money," Ensign Parkin says. "As if the second _Massal_ isn't giving us enough trouble…"

"Direct your attention to your station, Ensign," Lt. Sivar says and he swivels his chair to face Ensign Parkin. "Use whatever weaponry we have left to attack that first upgraded _Massal_-class Altonoid starship." Lt. Sivar turns to face the viewscreen again. "Lieutenant Muntenaar, what is the status of the Altonoid vessel we are currently targeting?"

"It seems more like they're targeting us," Lt. Muntenaar replies, while a well-aimed phaser strike causes his console to spark. Sven Muntenaar bounces back, quickly runs a hand through his black hair to remove any smoldering sparks caught in it, and continues his report. "But their shields are down to below forty percent... I guess. I can't be sure. Our sensor arrays could use a little refit."

The _USS Kennedy_ lines up its forward torpedo launchers and fires four elliptic photon torpedoes at the Altonoid vessel that was responsible for most of the _Kennedy_'s damage. The _Wolf _joins in on the attack; several photon torpedoes leave the _Wolf_'sweapon pod and race towards the _Massal_. After supporting the barrage of torpedoes with sufficient phaser fire, the _Massal_ ceases fire.

The bridge of the _USS Kennedy_ is still shaking after the last phaser hit. "They've stopped firing and their shields are almost down!" Lt. Muntenaar exclaims.

Before Lt. Sivar can give further orders, Chief Engineer Lt. Cmdr. Soeteman contacts the bridge again. "_That last phaser hit took our shields off-line. It will take a while to fix,_" they hear Soeteman's tired voice say. "_Our hull integrity is down to 12%. We are slowly losing power throughout the ship. Emergency force fields are going down one by one._"

"Evacuate the affected sections," Lt. Sivar says.

"_That's the problem. We can't reach those sections. The comm system is down in some of the more damaged areas. Oh, there's one more thing: aft torpedo launchers have gone a bit awry. I recommend not to use them._"

Lt. Sivar stares at the viewscreen, just like the rest of the bridge crew.

"_Sir?_"

Nobody responds. They're all staring at the _Massal_ on the viewscreen. Its phaser wires are flashing on and off again. Streaks of light race through the wires…

Lt. Sivar is the first to break the silence, keeping his professionalism. "It would be wiser to get the shields back on-line, Commander." With a quick tap of a button, he expands the comm channel to every possible part of the ship. "All hands, brace for another Altonoid phaser strike."

"_I understand_," Lt. Cmdr. Soeteman sighs, before closing the channel.

"Indeed," Lt. Sivar says and he raises an eyebrow. He turns to face Ensign Parkin again. "Fire everything we have got, Ensign. Focus the attack on one point of their phaser array."

Ensign Parkin hesitates for a brief moment, and then he complies with a resolute look on his young face.

* * *

Meanwhile, the _Wolf_ and the _Sundance_ are attacking the second _Massal_, but by now they have noticed that the first _Massal_ is preparing for another colossal attack. The _Wolf_ evades the second _Massal_ and opens fire at the first one in an attempt to break off their potentially fatal phaser strike. The stationary _Massal_ makes for an easy target, but its massive phaser array keeps charging.

"The _Massal_'s shields are down and its hull integrity has dropped to below 50%," Ensign Daniels declares. "No change in their weapon status."

"I can see that," Captain Reynolds says as she witnesses the streaks of light racing through the phaser wires of the immense Altonoid ship. For some reason, though, the onslaught of photon torpedoes decreases in intensity and comes to a stop. "Keep firing those torpedoes, Commander Anderson," Captain Reynolds calmly orders.

"Forward torpedo launchers on our weapon pod are completely empty now," Commander Anderson replies. "Our bow torpedo launchers have a few torpedoes left, but they'll need extensive repairs before we'll be able to use them again."

Captain Reynolds turns around to face Lt. Cmdr. Anderson, as if she cannot and will not believe what the Commander has just said. His reply in the form of a sad nod confirms his words. Momentarily defeated, Captain Reynolds faces the viewscreen with a worried look. She didn't anticipate this...

* * *

On the damaged bridge of the _USS Kennedy_:

"Sir…" Lt. Muntenaar looks troubled. "Though our sensors still aren't very accurate, I can confirm that the _Massal_ is targeting us…"

"Needless to say we won't make that, Sivar," the blonde Trill Lt. Malin adds.

"Keep firing at the Altonoid warship," Lt. Sivar says. "You all heard what Captain Reynolds said. We will not give up."

Muntenaar raises his eyebrow at Malin, obviously impressed with Sivar's newfound diligence.

The _USS Kennedy_ rotates counter-clockwise to let every phaser array that's still working unleash their fury on the _Massal_. The phaser strikes already start to knock hull plating off the buckling _Massal_, but the wires just keep on flashing.

* * *

"Turn us to port. Line up starboard torpedoes," Captain Reynolds says, while she stands up on the dark bridge of the _USS Wolf_.

Cmdr. Anderson frantically types in the necessary commands. "Torpedoes lined up!"

"Fire!"

The two starboard torpedo launchers of the _USS Wolf_ spit out four torpedoes each, which bombard the weakened hull of the _Massal_ and blow up in fiery explosions.

"Their hull integrity is down to 28 percent!" Ensign Daniels shouts.

"Good. Line up aft torpedoes. Fire when ready," Captain Reynolds says with apparent fighting spirit.

Ensign Daniels' console starts beeping. "Now they're targeting _us_!"

"I don't know whether to laugh or cry," Captain Reynolds says swiftly, beneath her breath. "Divert all power to aft shields!"

"Aft torpedoes lined up!" Lt. Cmdr. Anderson shouts. "Altonoid vessel is firing!"

"Fire aft torpedoes! Now!"

The streaks of light converge at one point on the _Massal_'s hull and form one enormous phaser burst. At that same moment, the aft launchers on the weapon pod of the _USS Wolf_ unleash a salvo of photon torpedoes at the firing _Massal_.

The Altonoid phaser strike reaches the _USS Wolf_ in a few milliseconds, and passes the photon torpedoes that are headed into the opposite direction. One torpedo grazes the phaser strike, upsetting the torpedo's guidance system, which causes it to make a few odd turns and explode harmlessly in open space.

However, The phaser beam slashes right through the aft shields of the _USS Wolf _as if they're non-existent, and it pounds on the _Wolf's _weapon pod that's still spitting out torpedoes. A photon torpedo that just left the pod gets struck and blows up. Its detonation adds to the already enormous power of the devastating phaser strike. Needless to say that the weapon pod can't handle this… It gets consumed by the resulting explosion. Every part of the pod that doesn't get vaporized instantly gets blown to pieces.

Everybody on board gets thrown off their feet. Some of them get sucked into open space immediately, while others crash into the nearest workstation or bulkhead. The closer the crewmembers are to the explosion, the smaller their chances of survival.

The fire caused by the exploding weapon pod gets extinguished rather quickly by the vacuum of space, but as the debris clears away, the severity of the damage becomes obvious. The weapon pod is just… gone. A very odd sight, since the missing pod changes the appearance of the catamaran-like hull drastically. This also does not have a positive influence on the structural integrity of the _Wolf_…

A dozen of photon torpedoes have made it to the _Massal_, however. They hit the _Massal_ several seconds after the massive phaser attack, carve straight through the already damaged hull of the _Massal_, and explode from inside the enormous Altonoid vessel. The _Massal_ can't take this battering. Consequentially, its structural integrity fails completely. The explosions from the detonating torpedoes are backed up by new explosions coming from within, which spread across the entire ship. Large sections of the outer hull tear off and the generated heat causes the enormous phaser wires to unravel themselves before they get consumed by flames.

Within seconds, the entire _Massal_ disappears inside the sum of all the cascading explosions. In other words: the whole damn ship blows up!

Relatively small pieces of debris that manage to ride the shockwave escape the explosions and smash into the nearby ships and Station A-12, causing little damage. After the flames have drowned into nothingness, there is nothing left of the mighty Altonoid prototype but pieces of spreading debris and some dark stains on the surrounding ships.

* * *

Letor Fune curses while he witnesses the debris and dust softly impacting on the large window of the hostage room.

"It seems there is no such thing as false hope," Cmdr. Dennis Levine says as he stands up. Letor Fune takes a few mighty steps towards the Commander and forces him to sit down by pushing him over. Cmdr. Levine lands uncomfortably on the conference table. His blond hair is a complete mess now, but that only adds to his defiant look.

Commander Jansen checks to see if he's alright, while Letor Fune turns to face the fleet. "This changes nothing!" Letor Fune snarls.

Admiral Van Aken can't suppress a subtle, proud smile, even though his ship the _Wolf_ has sustained heavy damage. Having your ship sustain heavy damage is always better than having it blow up altogether. Captain Duvivier, however, remains unmoved while he sits silently on the floor. He keeps his eyes fixed on his ship, the _Kennedy_, and waits for the inevitable continuation of the battle.

* * *

On the bridge of the _USS Kennedy_, Lt. Malin gives Lt. Muntenaar –who is seated right next to her- a cheerful look as she shakes her fist at the remains of the first _Massal_. "Yes! That's one menace down!" Her optimism forms a great contrast with the dark and moody bridge.

"There's still one left, unfortunately…" Lt. Muntenaar says. He keeps his demeanor professional as always, but he can't suppress a modest smile.

"You are both correct," Lt. Sivar says. "Though it is agreeable that one of the Altonoid vessels has been neutralized---"

"You mean blown to bits, sir." Ensign Parkin smirks, and the rest of the small bridge crew excluding Sivar smiles too.

"---we must now focus on neutralizing the second upgraded _Massal_-class vessel," Sivar continues.

"_This is Lieutenant Commander Soeteman calling the bridge_."

"You may proceed, Commander," Lt. Sivar says.

"_We're ready for shore leave down here!_"

"We all are, Commander," Lt. Malin says, still with a smile on her face.

"_However, I advise you to keep this ship out of battle for a while. We can't take much more right now. We're going to lose many crewmembers if those emergency force fields keep failing._" Everyone listens carefully. "_And our main battery is still draining. We're really missing that warp core over here…_"

"Alright, Commander," Lt. Sivar says. "Please continue your efforts to contact crewmembers who are in hazardous areas. In the meantime, find a way to boost the main battery and allocate our resources to battle systems only. It would be wise to utilize the newly gained time by allowing our weapon systems to cool down."

"_Yes sir. I'll do the best I can here._"

"Indeed. Time is of the essence." Sivar looks to his right and sees an engineering Ensign trying to pick up a heavy piece of debris. "Let me help you with that, Ensign." And with that, the Vulcan Lieutenant stands up and assists him.

* * *

Though the last massive phaser strike was aimed at the weapon pod, the bridge of the _USS Wolf_ has also sustained a lot of damage. Most officers have retaken their stations by now and damage reports are flooding in. Multiple alerts go off simultaneously, but the crew are still a bit too stumped to do or say much of anything.

The first person to break the relative silence is the Captain, who's hanging rather than sitting in her chair, still recovering from that major impact. "That's it. It's official: my hair is a mess now." She sits up and requests a damage report, even though she knows it will consist only of bad news.

"Our weapon pod has been destroyed completely. Port and starboard torpedo launchers are the only launchers that are still functioning," Lt. Cmdr. Anderson says as a wall console sends sparks at him. "Our shields are down and our hull integrity is down to eighteen percent."

"Multiple decks have been severely damaged, especially the aft sections," Lt. Stephanie Grant says, while she's having trouble keeping up with the sheer number of casualty and damage reports coming in. "That phaser impact didn't only take out your hair, Captain."

Captain Reynolds smiles.

"Engines are off-line. We're drifting," Lt. Grant continues.

"Send every engineer to fix the engines," Captain Reynolds orders. "And tell everyone on the ship that we've destroyed one of those Altonoid ships. We can all use a little morale boost."

Lt. Grant replies with a nod. Suddenly, her console starts bleeping. "The _Kennedy_ is hailing us. Text only. They are 'forced to discontinue the current battle and have fallen back for repairs'. They will 'offer assistance to combat the current predicament as soon as the status of the _USS Kennedy_ improves sufficiently to be of valuabl---"

"I get the main idea, Lieutenant," Capt. Reynolds interrupts. "That does sound like Lieutenant Sivar alright… It doesn't matter right now. We must repair our thrusters so we'll stop drifting. That's our number one priority right now."

Lt. Grant concentrates on her station again, but Cmdr. Anderson hesitates. "What about the _Sundance_?" he asks.

"They're on their own for now," Captain Reynolds sighs.

* * *

The saucer (and last remaining) section of the _USS Sundance_ swoops past the _Massal_ in a direct attacking maneuver. The _Sundance_'s surface is scorched in places, and visible hull breaches are beginning to form in vital areas.

The four Altonoid phaser beams create another hull breach in the belly of the _Sundance_ and knock her out of control for a brief moment. The _Sundance_ recovers quickly and lines up its bow to face the _Massal_. Shefires four photon torpedoes, but it's a futile attempt. The four phaser beams keep pounding on the failing _Sundance_'s forward shields, until they go down entirely. This allows the four phaser beams to sear through the hull, and the single torpedo launcher on the bow of the ship gets blown to bits.

The Bolian Lieutenant Broitz has nothing to sit on anymore, since the Captain's chair lies broken on the floor. As a matter of fact, there are no chairs left standing on the entire bridge. The dark bridge is in shambles, just like the bridges of the _Wolf _andthe _Kennedy_. Several officers remain lying on the floor or are silently hanging over one of the bridge railings. The normal lighting has gone off-line, so now the bridge is being lit by a strange mixture of light coming from the few working LCARS panels and the blue Multi Vector Assault Mode (MVAM) indicators. This combination of light makes Lt. Broitz's blue skin appear grey.

"Deflectors, shields and torpedo launchers are off-line!" Lt. Jena Roguez shouts. It's difficult to make herself heard with a nearby broken conduit hissing like an angry cat.

"Hull integrity?" Lt. Broitz shouts as he looks to his right, where the engineering officer should be. But he's not at his workstation; his motionless corpse lies next to the broken Captain's chair. Lt. Broitz also sees that the engineering wall panel isn't working anymore. It just… sparks a lot.

"What should we do?" the helm Ensign shouts.

Lt. Broitz has no idea, frankly. He never had to face a situation this dire in real life. Those simulations at the Academy weren't this stressful! His mind works like crazy for a moment while he frantically looks around and sees the chaos and destruction around him. Then he finally says, "Bring us about. Evasive maneuvers. Keep firing any working phaser array in range. Single bursts. Give them some cooling time." He turns around to pick up the Captain's chair and attempts to set it straight.

"Sir?" Lt. Roguez says as she sees the Bolian struggling with the chair.

"A commanding officer needs his chair," Broitz says. Sweat drips down from his forehead.

The saucer section of the _USS Sundance_ turns around, fires an occasional phaser burst at the _Massal_, and attempts to avoid the four massive phaser beams by flying away in an erratic pattern. It's no use; the never-ceasing phaser fire breaches their shields with ease, and now the already weakened hull gets pounded on severely.

Then the arch-shaped aft lower hull plating collapses, and the four massive phaser beams slice right through the lowest few decks! The lights on the _Sundance_ flicker as its lower warp engine explodes in a ball of flames. The ship itself appears to have remained largely intact, but that's only because most of the critical damage is obscured from view by the sides of the saucer.

Everyone (conscious or not) gets tossed around on the bridge of the _Sundance. _Lt. Broitz finds himself lying on top of his chair. He stands up carefully, looks around, and sees a lot of sparking consoles and few crewmates who return to their stations –or what's left of it. The bridge is still dark as hell, with those ominous MVAM indicators as its only light source.

Broitz looks around, wondering how he's going to clean up this mess they've gotten themselves into. He sees Lt. Roguez reaching for her wall panel workstation. "They've stopped firing at us!" She has to shout in order to be heard, with that ever-hissing conduit right next to her.

"Good," Lt. Broitz says and he starts wrestling his chair again. "So why is the bridge still shaking?"

"I'm getting incomplete damage reports now," Lt. Roguez says as she accesses the tactical wall panel in front of her. "Sir, we're drifting and our lower decks have been blown off!"

"Oh dear…" Broitz says as he lifts his chair to where it should be.

"Hull breaches are tearing through the ship! Our decks are decompressing one by one!"

"Oh dear…" Broitz says as he fastens the chair. The bridge shakes more and more and an ever-growing rumbling sound is audible.

"Emergency force fields can't keep up!"

The Captain's chair is now quite adequately repaired.

"The hull breaches are tearing the ship apart! Soon they will reach the bridge! What should we do?!" Lt. Roguez screams. The hull breaches come closer, causing the rumbling to increase dramatically.

Lt. Broitz turns around to face the viewscreen with a determined look on his face. Somehow he has found new strength, while bulkheads, wall panels, and pillars around him are starting to show minor cracks. Lieutenant Broitz sits down, clutches both armrests of his Captain's chair, sighs deeply, and says, "Alright…"

Just when he inhales to complete his sentence, the floor underneath his chair gives way and he and his newly repaired Captain's chair sink right through it.

The _USS Sundance_ drifts away from the _Massal_ and the two other Starfleet vessels. All air, debris and the occasional crewmember are shoved out of the growing number of hull breaches that are spreading throughout the ship, and all lights on the ship go out one by one as the surrounding sections start to buckle.

* * *

Captain Stephan Rinckes looks even worse than he did when he fought the three Altonoids a little while back. His entire body aches, but that does nothing to stop him from searching for his First Officer. With his phaser rifle lifted, ready to take down any opposition, he opens a door that leads to a side room with a plain view of the stars outside. No battling starships in sight.

"Stars…" he sighs. "I must be getting close." He checks if the room is occupied. No Commander Simons. No Altonoids. No nothing. Just an empty room with a nice view of the stars.

Then, from the left corner of the window, Captain Rinckes sees something moving. It's the saucer of the _USS Sundance_, drifting and tilting forward! Rinckes sees that her hull is buckling. Some chunks of hull have already broken off in volatile explosions which are getting bigger and more destructive. The explosions spread further and further throughout the entire ship, until she can't take it anymore. The top little warp nacelle is the last part that visibly breaks off before the entire vessel is torn to pieces in a final explosion. The _USS Sundance_ is no more… Captain Rinckes has to watch helplessly as the remains of his ship spread outwards in a bright cloud.


	6. Chapter 6

"FALLEN HEROES"  
by Alex Lampe

PART I – CHAPTER VI

Captain Stephan Rinckes had to close his narrow eyes briefly to protect them from the bright light coming from the _Sundance_'s destruction. Moments ago, a final explosion ripped apart the saucer section of the _USS Sundance_ and forever silenced everyone onboard. The _Sundance_, his own command, that strong _Prometheus_-class starship he was so proud of, is gone. Blown to dust in a hopeless battle…

He moves closer to the window and takes a look at his own reflection. Running around on this station looking for his First Officer has taken its toll on his appearance. Now that he can see the marks on his face and the cuts on his uniform he notices the stinging and droning pain all over his body.

What he sees when he looks to the left quickly makes him forget his own pain; a huge prototype Altonoid vessel is fighting the severely damaged _USS Kennedy _and _USS Wolf_. From what he can see, the Altonoids have gained the upper hand. Are there really _four_ phaser beams pounding on the weakened shields of the _Kennedy_? He looks back into the room again and realizes, "We'll never win this battle." He stares ahead for a moment, thinking. Then he remembers his most important goal. "Melanie."

Just when he's about to leave, he hears footsteps coming from behind the door he used to enter this room. He can hear approaching voices, largely muted by the bulkheads and the door itself. "He's in here! We've got him."

Captain Rinckes sets his phaser rifle on the highest power setting, making the setting indicators on top of the rifle turn red, and points the rifle at the door. As the footsteps close in rapidly, he notices there's another door to his right. He doesn't hesitate for a second and makes a run for it as the first door opens to reveal a group of armed Altonoids. Captain Rinckes tries to run as fast as he can, even though he's very tired. The look on his face hardens, however, because reaching that door will provide him his only chance of survival.

The Altonoids close in on the Captain of the late _USS Sundance_ and try to get a target lock on him, while the double sliding door starts to open in front of Captain Rinckes. But with his current speed, the door won't be fully opened in time. Captain Rinckes therefore turns his torso to the right to make himself as narrow as possible. This enables him to aim his rifle at the Altonoids with his outstretched right arm. Well, he tries to aim at the Altonoids, but because he's still running he inadvertently aims at the window! He'll never break off the attack like this…

Some Altonoids have started firing their weapons at the Captain. Fortunately for him, they can't get a clear shot at the running target. Captain Rinckes fires three phaser bursts, but they head straight for the window… and smash right through it! The phaser rifle is set on the highest setting and that is too much to handle even for the strong exterior window. It vaporizes for a considerable part, and the rest shatters and gets blown out in an instant.

Just when Captain Rinckes has raced out and enters the nearest corridor, all the air gets shoved out of the room through the gaping hole. Every single Altonoid is taken completely by surprise and gets dragged off their feet, flung through the broken window, and propelled into space by the sudden air displacement.

Captain Rinckes can feel the rushing air trying to pull him back into the room. With a great deal of effort, he is able to reach the bulkhead opposite the door, only to find that there's nothing to hold on to! As if he gets scooped up by a giant invisible hand, the Captain flies back to where he came from, waving his arms around, desperately trying to prevent certain death. With a bit of luck, he manages to clasp the right side of the doorway with his left hand. While the air around him rushes into space with a thunderous roar, he tries to gasp for air, with little success. His left arm gets stretched to the max as the air displacement forces his feet to point at the window…

Then, suddenly (and finally!), the emergency force fields kick in and seal off the window.

Rinckes falls to the floor face-first. He deeply breathes in and out for a while, savoring the new supply of fresh oxygen that gets pumped back into the room. It's getting progressively easier to breathe.

After a few seconds, he carefully stands up again and notices that he has somehow managed to hold on to his phaser rifle. A bit too tightly, because his right hand is practically glued to the chrome of the rifle. He looks through the invisible force field that has replaced the window and sees the sprawling Altonoids flying away in the distance. Then he looks around in the empty room he's in once again. For a moment, it looks as if he wants to smile in relief. But that hint of egoistical joy immediately gets suppressed by the thought that Melanie is still missing and could very well be in danger.

He changes the power setting of the phaser rifle to medium, wipes the dust from his uniform jacket, and exits the room once again.

* * *

"This is all I can do for you right now," Doctor Rose Van Oers says while she closes her med-kit. Marc Lucas, the handsome, young Latin American Ensign, has suffered a phaser wound to his left leg and is lying on his back. His damaged left pant leg reveals the location of the wound, but the skin underneath it appears to be healthy now. Despite that, the unfortunate Ensign still seems to be in a bit of pain. Dr. Van Oers notices this and says in a reassuring tone, "Your injuries will heal. You were relatively lucky."

The short, muscular Lieutenant Steven Appels looks around the corner to check if there are any Altonoids inbound. He sees nobody, but that does nothing to calm him down. "We should move on," he says impatiently.

Ensign Lucas attempts to stand up, and he succeeds with a little help from Dr. Van Oers. But the young Ensign can't shift his weight to the injured leg and has no choice but to lie down again. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant. That might be more difficult than you'd hope."

"We can't leave you behind in the middle of a corridor. Then we might as well shoot you right away," Lt. Appels says, with a trace of seriousness in his voice that makes Ensign Lucas give the Lieutenant a slightly unsettled look and causes the Doctor to take a protective stance over her patient. Steven Appels notices that, but he continues in the same tone anyway. "Maybe if you'd act dead, the Altonoids won't shoot you."

Ensign Lucas doesn't like that idea at all.

"Now that's a comforting thought!" Dr. Van Oers says. "I think I have a better idea. When I served as a nurse onboard the _USS Righteous_ some years ago, at one time a group of Orion pirates came out of nowhere and boarded our ship. They were looking for women to sell on one of their slave markets. Not every Starfleet officer's dream…"

"Please get to the point," Lt. Appels sighs, while watching out for Altonoids again.

"When the pirates boarded the ship and their intentions became clear, I came up with the idea to have every woman in sickbay hide in the empty morgue. We each entered a separate cryo-chamber and used a medical tricorder to mask our life signs. It never even occurred to the pirates that we could be hiding there… We were the only female officers on that ship who weren't kidnapped by the Orion Syndicate that day."

"I don't believe the Altonoids want to kidnap me to paint me green and sell me as a slave," Ensign Lucas quips as he carefully sits up.

"The point is," she continues with a smile, "we should hide you somewhere the Altonoids will never expect you."

"You mean we should hide him in the ladies room?" Lt. Appels remarks dryly.

Dr. Van Oers gives him the evil eye.

A little while later, the Doctor and the Chief Security Officer of the _Kennedy_ lift Ensign Marc Lucas headfirst into a Jefferies tube very close to where they devised this plan. Dr. Van Oers practically has to crawl into the maintenance tube herself to hand the young Ensign her medical tricorder, and says, "It's set to mask your life signs."

Lt. Appels has remained standing in the corridor, and he doesn't even bother to look at the Ensign when he says, "All you have to do is wait here. If we're not back in six hours, make your way to the nearest escape pod and get out of here."

"Sir, yes sir," Ensign Lucas replies.

"Try to relax a bit," the Doctor says with a reassuring smile on her face. "You're perfectly safe here." She exits the maintenance tube, where an impatient Lt. Appels is waiting for her.

"Good luck... to both of you," Ensign Lucas says.

"Thanks," Doctor Van Oers replies, once again displaying her impeccable bedside manner. She closes the hatch, and with that, the only way of getting in or out of this particular Jefferies tube.

Lying there on his back, with a phaser wound on his leg and a medical tricorder next to it, Ensign Lucas tries to relax a bit, and he begins humming to himself. The humming stops immediately when he makes a somewhat inconvenient realization. "But what if I've got to go to the bathroom?"

* * *

Commander Tony Q and Ensign Emily Murphy travel through the corridors of Station A-12. Tony Q can barely walk because of the phaser wound he has suffered just above his right hip, and a large portion of his weight is being carried by the attractive young Ensign. Despite the direness of the situation, they talk in reasonably lighthearted fashion.

"So aren't you a bit too young to be a Commander?" Ensign Murphy asks.

Tony takes a wrong step, groans in pain, and shifts a bit more of his weight onto her shoulder. "Well… Q certainly had some influence there." He sets up his most winning smile through the pain. "From Cadet to Commander in roughly one year. Even someone as charming as you can't do that."

Ensign Murphy smiles politely but doesn't respond to Tony's sudden outbreak of testosterone...

"And now that every member of the Q Continuum has abandoned me, I'm a vulnerable, fragile human once again." Tony can't disguise the sudden bitterness in his voice.

To keep the conversation from going sour, Ensign Murphy quickly decides to change subjects. "I haven't seen any other living Starfleet officers yet. Where are they?"

"I have no idea. I'm honestly more concerned about any Altonoid officers…" Tony smirks and he looks into the deep brown eyes of Emily Murphy long enough for her to look away shyly. Tony coughs apologetically and looks ahead again. Somehow, they look back at each other at the exact same moment, making them smile.

"So, what class-" Tony says, but he can't finish his sentence because Ensign Murphy sees a shadow moving across the corridor and pushes Tony Q away to grab her phaser rifle. With his current injuries, Cmdr. Tony Q can't stand on his own feet and he smashes against the bulkhead next to him. After bouncing off the bulkhead, Tony slowly collapses on the floor while emitting a long moan.

Ensign Murphy sees that the shadow belongs to a broken conduit and she lowers her rifle. When she sees Tony lying on the ground clutching his head, she realizes what she has done and quickly tries to get him back on his feet, without much success. "Oh. I'm terribly sorry! But you see, I had to knock you away. Because I thought… I'm so sorry, Commander."

"Show's over. Moving on," Tony says as he tries to decide which of the six apologetic Ensigns he should address. The whole corridor seems to be part of a frenzying merry-go-round.

"I'm really sorry!" Ensign Murphy keeps apologizing while she places her arms under Tony Q's armpits in an attempt to get Tony standing again, a rather awkward sight…  
Emily manages to put Tony's arm around her neck. As he gradually comes back to his senses, he sighs, "Suddenly I'm beginning to understand why you're still an Ensign."

In spite of Tony's sarcasm, Emily replies with a sweet smile instead of the expected scowl. Tony returns the smile. He wishes he could just stay mad at her for a little while longer, but he realizes that's not going to happen. Carefully, they continue their journey through the corridors.

* * *

Captain Rinckes has obviously had to face a few more Altonoids. His uniform is torn in places, there are marks on his face and hands, and his knuckles are red from all of the fighting. The ongoing rush of adrenaline that's on the verge of wearing out prevents him from feeling any pain at the moment. Silently, he reaches a wall panel and accesses it. The upper right corner of the LCARS panel catches his eye. It's a simple display of the day and time, and it reads:

THURSDAY - 2045 HOURS.

"Has it only been that long?" Captain Rinckes whispers to himself. "It seems decades ago the Altonoids took over the station. It seems decades ago I was with Melanie…"

His pondering look changes into the hardened, determined look again as he focuses on the wall panel. He taps in several commands and the panel shows him the schematics of the section he's in. His index finger scrolls across the cold tripolymer interface, from his current whereabouts to a square chamber that has "OBSERVATION LOUNGE" written inside of it. His fingers tap the display a few times, because he has found what he was looking for. He remembers what the Altonoid had said to him, and he softly echoes his words. "She was last seen in the observation lounge of this deck. But you're too late anyway. I already called for back-up."

The wall panels in the immediate area light up and show him which route to take to get to his destination. Rinckes doesn't hesitate for one second and walks off while his eyes narrow and his grip around the phaser rifle tightens.

* * *

Commander Tony Q and Ensign Emily Murphy are still traveling through the corridors while making casual small talk. After some time has passed, Emily says, "We're sure lucky not to have encountered any Altonoids yet."

At that precise moment, a shadow moves across the corridor once again. Definitely humanoid-shaped this time!

"You just had to say it, didn't you?" Tony Q remarks sullenly as Emily sets him down on the ground – a lot gentler than the last time. She points her rifle at the end of the corridor and is greeted by the barrel of a similar rifle. It's being held by a Starfleet security officer! He seems to be in the same bad shape as everyone does after they've spent some time on this station; his hair is a sweaty mess, his uniform is battle-worn, and his brown, weary eyes convey tiredness.

Ensign Murphy puts down her rifle and sighs in relief as the friendly contact approaches. "You spooked me there, Lieutenant…?"

"Lieutenant First Class Jarod Moore. _USS Sundance_." The rugged-looking Lieutenant speaks swiftly, as if he has said these words too many times already.

"And I am Ensign Emily C. Murphy. _USS Kennedy_."

Lt. Moore points at Cmdr. Tony Q, who lies there tucked away in the corner. "Is that kid in need of medical attention?"

"Kid? You're calling me a kid?" Tony snaps.

"Wow. Cranky," Lt. Moore says to Ensign Murphy.

Murphy rolls her eyes and smiles. "You have no idea."

Tony shakes his head.

"This is a dangerous section of the station. In your condition, I suggest you leave," Lt. Moore says while he crouches down next to Tony Q and starts examining his wound superficially.

"Lieutenant, don't worry about us. We were already heading for the shuttle bay," Tony Q replies.

"Good. That phaser wound appears to be stable for now, but it will require surgery sooner or later," Jarod says, without looking the Commander in the eyes, and he stands up. "At the moment, however, transporting the wounded isn't our ships' main priority."

"Yep. They're still fighting those Altonoids, no doubt," Tony Q says. "Well, we've got some good ships. You're from the _Sundance_, you said? I bet your ship is packing quite a wallop out there." Tony forces a smile.

Lt. Moore doesn't smile at all, for obvious reasons. "Didn't you know? The _USS Sundance_ has been lost with all hands."

That unexpected bit of news stuns Tony and Ensign Murphy for a moment.

"We've lost the _Satellite_ too," Lt. Moore continues.

Tony hesitates briefly before asking, "And the _Kennedy_?"

"She's been crippled. Severely damaged. Though from the _Sundance_'s last report, I heard that she's still fighting. So is the _USS Wolf_."

Emily and especially Tony need some time to absorb this information. "What about the Altonoids?" Ensign Murphy asks.

"The way things stand now, the Altonoids have a good chance of winning the space battle. And I don't have exact numbers, but this station is swarming with Altonoids."

"I had hoped we were on the winning side…" Tony says after a short silence.

"We won't give up, that's for sure. These Altonoids killed many men and women today, and who knows what they'll do after this. They must be stopped." Lt. Moore looks away for a brief moment before saying, "I was the leader of squad 8-Beta, with the emphasis on _was_. I was responsible for them, but I couldn't help but watch them perish one by one while we fought alongside." He chuckles joylessly. "They relied on my guidance… I tried to be as strategic as possible, but there were too many Altonoids." He shakes his head.

"I'm sure you did the best you could," Emily says comfortingly.

"Alright. I won't lie to you," Jarod says with determination flooding back into his speech. "The situation is bad. Both here on the station and outside the station. But I swear to you that we won't give up! We will have to end all of this, or many other innocent people will die too."

A short silence.

"I'm afraid I won't be much of help," Tony sighs as he points at his phaser wound. He's still sitting on the floor.

Lt. Moore gives the young, wounded Commander a long look, and suddenly recognizes him. "Wait a minute. You're Commander Tony Q, right?"

"The one and only," Tony replies without any trace of enthusiasm. Being such a young high-ranking officer and becoming a Q doesn't occur without anyone noticing. However, right now he couldn't care less about being 'famous'.

"I don't understand. You're a Q, so you have the power to make things right."

"I'm sorry. I can't," Tony sighs. "I wanted to help the Federation, but I had to give up my powers and immortality in the process." He points at his phaser wound. "That is what happened."

"Then I'd say you've already helped us more than we could've asked of you," Lt. Moore says. He ponders his next words for a moment. "Go. Get out of this place. Your battle is over for now."

The silent Ensign Emily Murphy lifts Tony back on his feet again. Lt. Moore can see the pain in Tony's eyes. Not only the pain of the wound, but the fact that Tony _is_ wounded. Tony moves his arm around Emily's shoulder and she supports most of his weight again.

"What about you, Lieutenant?" Ensign Murphy asks.

"Don't worry about me," he replies with a polite smile. And with that, he readies his rifle and walks the other way without looking back.

Ensign Emily Murphy and Commander Tony Q silently continue their journey to the shuttle bay.

* * *

A few decks away, Captain Rinckes walks through the corridors, past the wall panels that point him to his destination. There it is: the door that leads to the observation lounge of this deck. Captain Rinckes rushes towards it, forgetting all the combat tactics he has learned over the years. He's so tired, but his hopes of finding Commander Melanie Simons are increasing every step of the way.

The door opens and he runs into the large room that is only slightly smaller than Station A-12's conference room and provides a similar view of the space battle. His eyes search the room for a brief moment. There's been a battle in here, no doubt about it. Tables and chairs have been overturned, phaser marks stain the walls and furniture, and he spots at least five dead Altonoids with various fatal injuries.

Then he sees her… She lies there in the shattered glass of a cupboard that held many golden starship models. Now most golden models lie scattered on the floor. Silent and still, she faces the window, which displays the space battle raging on in cold space. Captain Rinckes couldn't care less about the battle right now; he rushes over to the motionless Commander. Before he reaches her, he notices there's a huge phaser wound covering most of her upper body. The mere sight of that wound stops him dead in his tracks. The wound looks so extensive it just has to be fatal.

"No…" Rinckes whispers. He drops his rifle, rushes towards her again, and crouches down beside her. His hands and legs get stabbed by shards of glass, but he couldn't give a damn. He touches her blonde hair gently and when he pushes it aside, multiple marks and wounds are revealed. The touch causes Melanie Simons to open her eyes a little. "Melanie!" Rinckes exclaims in a strange mixture of despair and relief.

"Captain…" she whispers.

"My God. What happened?" Captain Rinckes asks, but he doesn't wait for a response. "I'll get you to sickbay. Don't worry. Everything will be fine." But when he looks into the eyes of the woman he loves, he sees his own lies reflected back at him.

Melanie slowly shakes her head, while looking her Captain in the eyes vaguely. "No, Captain," she says softly.

Momentarily at a loss for words and actions, Stephan Rinckes lifts her up slightly and holds her in his arms. "Melanie. Please… don't give up. We'll get you back to the _Su_… to the ship," he says with growing desperation in his voice, realizing midway that he has lost his ship already.

"Take good care of the _Sundance_ for me, will you?" Melanie whispers. She's struggling to keep her eyes open.

Though giving up is the last thing he wants to do, Rinckes is forced to draw the bitter conclusion that he's losing her. Time is running out. This will be his last chance to talk to her. He _has_ to tell her he loves her. He summons all his inner strength and whispers in a broken voice, "Melanie, I…" He can't say it. Every fiber of his being compels him to say it, but he simply can't tell her that he loves her. He forces a weak smile on his trembling face. "I will…" A false promise already broken instead of those three simple words that are now destined to remain unspoken.

He watches the life drain from Melanie's blue eyes until they're reduced to an empty stare. Her head tilts back and, gently, her Captain releases his grip and places her on the floor.

Stephan Rinckes is shattered. There's nothing he can do. He can't even tell her he loves her anymore; that time has come and gone. The only person in this universe that he really cared about has been taken from him… He wants to cry so hard. He wants to lay himself down next to her and die here, with her. Already, tears are forming in his eyes, and feelings of loss and hopelessness distort the sharp features of his face.

Suddenly, the tears stop flowing and his expression goes blank, just completely blank. Captain Rinckes takes off his uniform jacket, revealing his red Captain's shirt, and uses it to gently cover Melanie's face and torso. He stands up, walks over to his phaser rifle, and picks it up. Without looking back, he walks out of the room and away from the woman he once loved. No expression at all on his face.

* * *

The once so sterile bridge of the _Akira_-class _USS Wolf_ is dark and damaged almost beyond any hope of repair. Multiple workstations are no longer functioning, and some bridge crew members are unconscious or dead. Someone should move them off the bridge, but staying focused on the current battle is of higher importance.

The entire weapon pod exploded a while back, which had quite a significant impact on the structural integrity. Now, the entire ship shudders and shakes with every maneuver. Relentlessly, the Altonoids' phaser beams keep scorching the Wolf's hull in an effort to exploit any catastrophic weaknesses. Luckily, the _Kennedy_ is still around. Every once in a while, she manages to draw away fire, but she's weakening just like the _Wolf_.

Captain Suzan Reynolds tries to walk over the continuously shaking floor to stand near the Swedish Lt. Cmdr. Leif Anderson at his tactical station. This way she can actually hear what he's saying with all that rumbling of ship components going on. And that hissing EPS conduit next to her Captain's chair isn't helping either… Lt. Cmdr. Anderson's tactical station isn't exactly working at prime efficiency anymore, but he has rerouted most functions to one of the few panels that are still working. He has also rerouted his station to receive any incoming engineering reports, because the remains of the engineering workstation on the other side of the bridge lie scattered over the floor…

The tall Captain Reynolds gives Lt. Cmdr. Anderson an inquiring look. As if telepathically linked, Anderson has his report ready. "Our engines are back to twenty-two percent efficiency. Whenever we restore a part of the shields, an attack from those Altonoids depletes them immediately. Hull integrity is down to eleven percent, but I've rerouted power from the empty torpedo bays to the structural integrity field. Phasers are operational, though I-" He can't finish his elaborate damage report, because the four Altonoid phaser beams hit a weak spot (one of many by now) and the bridge shudders violently.

Chief Helmsman Lieutenant Stephanie Grant tries every evasive maneuver in the book, and some extra she makes up on the spot. Despite her brilliant evasive actions (which are currently even more difficult to perform due to the weakened engines), the phaser beams just keep pounding the hull of the _USS Wolf_.

For a moment, the _USS Kennedy_ becomes visible on the viewscreen. The battle has clearly taken its toll on the large _Sovereign_-class ship. Captain Reynolds moves to the front of the shaking, dark bridge again and sees that the proud but wounded _Kennedy_ has suffered hull breaches that are clearly visible even from this distance. "Divert more power to the phaser arrays and keep firing at the _Massal_ with everything we've got!" she orders Commander Anderson. "We might buy the _Kennedy_ a bit more repair time." She realizes this may not make much of a difference, but she sure as hell won't give up!

"We can't keep them off their backs forever!" Lt. Cmdr. Anderson shouts.

Captain Reynolds acknowledges him with a quick nod.

The four phaser beams hammer the impulse engines of the _USS Wolf_, right until Lt. Grant moves the engines out of their devastating reach. The _Massal_ immediately directs its attention to the _USS Kennedy_, which is basically hanging motionlessly in space now that its engines have suffered major damage.

* * *

The bridge of the _USS Kennedy_ would be darker than it ever was, if its starboard side wasn't partially on fire. The few engineers who were busy repairing the bridge earlier are now busy trying to extinguish the flames! The other four bridge crew members (the Vulcan Lt. Sivar on the Captain's chair, Ensign Parkin behind the tactical station, which almost topples over when a part of the ceiling decides to come down, and Lieutenants Malin and Muntenaar in front of the bridge) all have suffered scratches and bruises.

The _Massal_ has directed its phaser beams at the _Kennedy_, and with the absence of shielding, the phaser beams inflict serious damage in little time, causing the bridge to rumble and shake excessively. Without warning, the OPS console blows up in Lieutenant Muntenaar's face! Lieutenant Muntenaar is tossed backwards and lands in the nearby fire!

The blonde Trill Lt. Malin has managed to hold on to her station despite the close proximity blast. "Are you alright?" she screams while she looks back.

Lieutenant Muntenaar finds himself surrounded by searing hot flames. Quickly, he gathers all his strength, stands up, and throws himself away from the fire. After a few frantic rolls on the floor, he gets rid of any residual flames. There are burn marks on his face and hands, but he realizes it could've been much worse.

Suddenly, the _Massal_ stops firing. The bridge is still shaking mildly, but the awful noise of phasers versus hull plating is gone. Now, more ominous sounds caused by the failing structural integrity become audible.

"Miss Malin, are the engines still inoperable?" Lt. Sivar asks, while Lieutenant Muntenaar stands up carefully with the help of a nearby engineer.

"Yes, sir," Malin replies. "Engines and thrusters are down."

"What is the status of our weaponry, Ensign?" Sivar asks Ensign Parkin.

"That last hit took out our phasers, and from our current angle we can't fire torpedoes," the young Ensign replies.

Lieutenant Sivar turns to ask the engineers about the status of repairs, but he decides not to ask them anything, because they're still struggling with the fire that seems to be the only light source on the bridge, apart from the few LCARS displays that still work. Besides, his dark Vulcan eyes are drawn to the viewscreen.

The _Massal_'s phaser wires start flickering on and off again, which signifies that they're about to launch another massive phaser strike. Everyone drops what they're doing and looks at the viewscreen. Not with amazement or fear. No, with acknowledgement…

* * *

The bridge crew of the _Wolf _can see it too. There just seems to be no stopping that _Massal_. Captain Reynolds has seated herself in the Captain's chair once again, and she wants to say something, but nobody can hear her due to the broken, hissing EPS conduit next to her. She gets fed up with it, stands up, rips out the remains of the conduit, crushes it, stuffs it back to where it came from (effectively stopping the hissing), and sits down with a thud. "Right," she says as she pushes some hair from her face. Lit by the flickering light of the Altonoid phaser wires that shines on their faces via the viewscreen, most of the bridge crew members have to smile, if just for a moment. "Who's being targeted this time?" Reynolds asks.

"The _Kennedy_, ma'am," Ensign Mick Daniels replies.

"She ain't going anywhere?"

"Her engines are still down."

A short silence. Captain Reynolds thinks, while everyone on the bridge holds their breath. A determined grimace appears on her face, and she orders, "Lieutenant Grant, position our ship between the _Massal_ and the _Kennedy_."

Lt. Cmdr. Anderson shakes his head and says firmly, "We will not survive another phaser hit like that."

"Neither will they," Lt. Stephanie Grant says in a gentle voice as she looks at the viewscreen, which shows the severely damaged _USS_ _Kennedy_. "I understand, Captain. We might buy the _Kennedy_ some time. It's our only hope."

Reynolds gives Lt. Grant an appreciative smile before ordering, "Divert more power to the engines. Move us into position." As the weakened engines push the ship into forward motion, Captain Reynolds sighs deeply and says to herself, "I never thought I'd be doing this more than once a day…"

* * *

On the bridge of the _USS Kennedy, _the _Wolf_ eclipses the sight of the _Massal_ in much the same way that the _Satellite_ did right before she was destroyed.

"The _USS Wolf_ is forming a buffer between us and the Altonoid vessel," Lt. Malin says with a touch of pride in her voice.

"That is exceptionally courageous of Captain Reynolds," Lt. Sivar says. "I see what she is attempting to accomplish by performing this maneuver. She is buying us some time."

"We must prioritize repairs," Lt. Muntenaar says. Despite having suffered painful second-degree burns on his face and hands, he has suppressed the urge to just give up on the situation and report to sickbay. In fact, he has taken over and rerouted the engineering station, now that his OPS console is gone. "We need to get the engines back on-line, or the _Wolf_'s sacrifice will be in vain."

"Exactly," Sivar says. He opens a comm channel. "This is acting Captain Sivar to Commander Soete-"

"The _Massal_ is engaging tractor beam!" Lt. Muntenaar shouts.

Lt. Sivar lifts an eyebrow.

* * *

The _Massal_ stops powering up its phaser array and sends out a tractor beam instead. It sears through space and locks on to the saucer of the _USS Wolf_. Without showing any mercy, the tractor beam starts moving the _Wolf_ to starboard with tremendous force, causing the bridge to shake even more violently. To the bridge crew, it feels like they're in the middle of a city-shattering earthquake. Several consoles and wall panels explode, and parts of the bridge simply rupture. "All power to the structural integrity field!" Captain Reynolds shouts as she stands up on the shaking bridge.

The _Wolf_ spins out of control, and simply gets shoved away from the _Kennedy_. Because of the missing weapon pod, the warp engine pylons bend dangerously. By some miracle, what remains of the structural integrity field keeps them from breaking off altogether.

After the powerful tractor beam has done its job, it releases the _Akira_-class vessel.

"Compensate! All power to the engines!" Captain Reynolds shouts.

Lt. Cmdr. Anderson interprets the jumble of data coming from his damaged workstation and shouts, "The ship is moving too fast. The engines aren't in the condition to counteract!"

"Reroute power from wherever you can find it and fix those cursed engines!" Reynolds shouts. The _Wolf_ keeps spinning away from the _Kennedy_ and the _Massal_, while the phaser system of the Altonoids starts powering up again. Captain Reynolds looks at the _Kennedy_ and sighs a well-meant, "Good luck, Sivar."

* * *

Once again, the bridge of the _Kennedy_ is being lit by the ominous, erratic light coming from the phaser wires. The ongoing fire near the starboard consoles provides the finishing touch to the bridge's undeniably hellish appearance.

"The _Wolf_ messages us that they're sorry…" Lt. Muntenaar reports. Now that his hopes of survival have been crushed, the agony caused by his second-degree burns are beginning to slip into his conscious mind. _So be it_, he thinks. _I'm not leaving my post. No matter what._

"Helm is still not responding," Lt. Malin says with growing agitation in her voice.

Like moths being drawn towards a flame, everyone watches the light coming from the _Massal_'s phaser system as it increases in intensity.

"Ensign Parkin," Lt. Sivar asks. "Is there any way we can break off their attack?"

The tall Ensign Parkin shakes his head sadly. "I'm sorry, sir. Phasers are still out."

"Noted, Ensign." Lieutenant Sivar presses the comm button on his chair. "This is acting Captain Sivar to engineering."

No response. The streaks of light emanating from the phaser wires keep moving faster and faster.

"How long do we have left?" Lt. Sivar asks the wounded Lt. Muntenaar.

"I can't tell. Sensor readings are garbled. I just don't know. Seconds, maybe."

Sivar presses the comm button again. "Sivar to Soeteman. It is imperative that we get our engines operational again." There's no reply. "Engineering, report." Sivar's voice is starting to sound urgent, but there's still no response.

The lights coming from the phaser wires start connecting with each other. They'll be ready to unleash their most powerful phaser strike mere seconds from now.

"Engineering?" Sivar looks up at the viewscreen and sees all the streaks of light bundling together to form one huge phaser beam. Then, Sivar sighs deeply and, for the first time in his life, says, "Damn."

* * *

The massive phaser beam races towards the _Kennedy_ and hits her engineering section dead-on. That part of the ship is already severely damaged, and the phaser beam slices right through it, rams its way through several decks, and comes out on the other side!

The devastation it leaves behind is immeasurable. The sheer power of the phaser beam and the resulting explosions, combined with the failing hull integrity, is too much to handle for the dying _Kennedy_. As if being ripped in two by an unseen force, the saucer tears free off the stardrive section. All lights on both parts of the ship dim as the two parts (each still several hundred meters in length) start rotating away from each other.

The stardrive section, which still contains enough structural integrity to hold both warp engines together, ventures away from the saucer of the _Kennedy _while rotating backwards.

One look at that stardrive section makes it clear that nobody in there could've survived…

Hundreds of broken corridors, Jefferies tubes, and conduits suddenly become exposed to open space, and many sections shed whatever is left of their hull plating. A turbolift that was moving through the ship gets sucked right into space and gets added to the large field of debris and dead crew members that is forming between the two parts of the ship. Many corridors and crawlways that are suddenly exposed to deep space look as if they already had a lot to endure, which reveals how damaged the ship already was before it got cracked in two.

The saucer section looks just as bad, if not worse. With all its lights dimmed, the saucer looks very macabre as it rotates forward in dramatic silence. All its decks are either collapsing or on fire. Essentially, it's become a death trap for all those who are unlucky enough to be caught inside.

* * *

The conference room's large window provides a painful panorama of the _Kennedy_'s destruction. Admiral Van Aken, Commander Levine, and especially Captain Duvivier and Commander Jansen find it almost unbearable having to watch this horrendous spectacle unfold before them. Despite a warning from an Altonoid guard, Captain Mathieu Duvivier stands up to have a better look at the last thing he ever wanted to see: the _USS Kennedy_ defeated, destroyed.

The dark, scorched saucer keeps rotating away in silence. Suddenly, explosions occur all over the entire saucer and fight their way out of its remains, taking the outer hull along with them. Within moments, the saucer of the _Kennedy_ blows up in one final, gigantic explosion, causing all debris to scatter away in one big shockwave.

The _USS Kennedy_ is no more.

It's very silent in the conference room of Station A-12.

Captain Duvivier looks at the remains of what used to be one of the Federation's finest starships, one of the most beautiful and most powerful ships Starfleet has ever constructed. A ship that held over seven hundred crew members. "My ship," he gasps incredulously, while he stumbles towards the large window. "My crew."

Letor Fune smiles. "Oh, the pain of losing one's vessel," he sneers melodramatically.

Captain Duvivier feels his face flush with anger, but somehow he manages to stay calm.

"It always relaxes me to see a Federation starship destroyed. A lot less Starfleet officers to worry about," Fune continues.

That last remark hits hard, and Duvivier can't keep his feelings of hatred back anymore. "You loathsome bastard!" he shouts and he turns to face the man who's responsible for the _Kennedy_'s demise. "You sickening piece of lowlife!" Threateningly, he moves towards the smirking Fune.

Admiral Van Aken shakes his head at Captain Duvivier, worried that the Captain might do something that could aggravate the situation even further. After all, tragic as the _Kennedy_'s loss may be, it's the Altonoids who are holding all the guns at the moment.

Captain Duvivier hesitates. He looks from Admiral Van Aken to the proud, tall Altonoid in front of him. When Duvivier looks to his left and right, he sees that several armed guards have closed in on him.

"Perhaps it would be better if you'd sit down," Letor Fune says. "The battle will soon be over anyway, so we'll be able to continue our work."

"Your work? You call taking innocent lives your work?" Captain Duvivier is still standing in an aggressive stance, ready to take the Altonoid leader down, despite the fact that he's surrounded by guards.

Letor Fune laughs a short, fake laugh, and quickly turns serious again. "Sit down."

After summoning all the self-control he has left, Duvivier slowly walks over to the other three Starfleet officers and sits down next to his First Officer Commander Jansen, who gives his Captain a worried glance. The Captain ignores him and stares dejectedly at the floor.

"We are reading no life signs on the wreckages. No escape pods have been launched," the Altonoid near the wall display says. "They're all dead."

"Our colleagues. Our friends," the timid Captain Duvivier whispers to himself.

"The _USS Wolf_ is not moving to intercept our warship. Nor is she fleeing the scene."

"They can't escape anyway," Letor Fune says. "Nor can any of you." He addresses the four officers directly.

"How about Commander Simons and Captain Rinckes? You still can't find them," the blonde Texan Cmdr. Levine says defiantly.

"All those officers and families living on this station couldn't find us either," Letor Fune says. "But we've certainly found them!" He laughs, making him the only one laughing in the large room.

After a beat of awkward silence, the red-haired Admiral Van Aken uses a subtle cough to indicate he's about to speak up. "Fune," he says calmly. "Since we aren't going anywhere, why don't you tell us what you've done to the station's crew? Have you killed them too? Are they being imprisoned somewhere?"

"Why should I tell you? You're not in the position to ask any questions, Admiral," Fune replies. "I can tell you, however, that it took some great planning, but everything turned out alright –for us." He lets his word linger in the room for a while before continuing in an unpleasantly playful tone. "You really fell flat on your faces, didn't you?" He walks closer to the four.

Admiral Van Aken says nothing, prompting the arrogant Letor Fune to continue his mocking speech. "'The Altonoids want another diplomatic meeting with us. Sure, let's give them another chance'." The irony drips from Fune's voice. "You are so predictable!" He pauses to think, all the while regaining his seriousness. "For the Federation this will be the first major defeat of many. For us it's just a way to test _two_ different kinds of prototypes during this small battle here and the battle against your so-called mighty fleet you've tried to keep hidden just outside of sensor range."

He sees four inquiring looks in front of him.

"Yes, that's right. The back-up fleet," Fune says. "Another display of your mistrust and deviousness."

"I'm not even inclined to talk about that," Admiral Van Aken says not quite as convincingly as he had intended.

"Then you wouldn't be interested in hearing what's holding them up, right? Well, to put it simply: _we_ are." Letor Fune turns to face the window again to give the stars and the two remaining starships a pondering look. "You invaded our space several years ago." He raises his eyebrows as if what he's about to say is so simple that it speaks for itself. "Now… you will have to pay the price. The Alto Empire won't be treaded on again."

"We didn't invade your space," Admiral Van Aken says. He's having a fair bit of trouble speaking calmly, but he succeeds nonetheless. "We are explorers. We were hoping to meet a new race and learn from them. Learn from you. That's our primary goal: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations."

"We've heard that many times before," Fune replies. After a deep sigh, he turns to face the four officers and speaks his mind. "Forty years ago, the Romulans pretended to be just like you."

"Letor Fune, we are not allowed to discuss this with outsiders," one of his subordinates says.

"_I_ determine what's allowed and what's not!" Fune snaps at him. "It's time we confront them with the truth!"

The embarrassed Altonoid swallows his words and looks away.

"The Romulans," Fune continues. "'We come in peace'. Sure… We welcomed them with our open arms. Quickly enough, their real intentions became clear. They harvested our planet's rich resources, enslaved many Altonoids... But we learned our lesson well. We fought back so hard that they offered technology in trade of a treaty that made us never interfere with each other again. However, the damage was done. We, as a people, were devastated. So was our home planet. You can still see the scars on her surface. You didn't know about all this, did you, Admiral?"

Admiral Van Aken remains silent, but he doesn't break off his stare.

Commander Jansen leans closer to Captain Duvivier and whispers, "Even Commander Soeteman never told us this, and he must've known." He tried to whisper as softly as possible, but it was said loud enough to be overheard by Cmdr. Levine.

"It explains why the Romulans never wanted to have anything to do with our negotiations with the Altonoids," Dennis Levine whispers back.

Letor Fune is too absorbed in his monologue to hear them. "We won't allow this to happen again. We know the likes of you. You're not explorers. You're just like the Romulans," Fune scoffs. With a challenging glance, he awaits the Admiral's response.

The Admiral doesn't keep him waiting. "We welcomed you with our open arms. We arranged many diplomatic meetings, many leaps of faith. And every single time you attacked us. If you had taken the time to do more research you would know that the Federation is very different from the Romulans. I admit, our efforts to reach out to new civilizations and gain more knowledge have enabled us to make a few regrettable mistakes. And, yes, in order to protect ourselves we have had to make some very tough decisions. Also, these past few decades have been filled with wars we did not start, did not want, but happened anyway."

Admiral Van Aken stands up to look Fune directly in the eye. "But these mistakes, and these tragedies have always given us the opportunity to improve ourselves. To become better persons, and to grow as a group of humans, Vulcans, Andorians, all sentient beings alike. If you'd really know us, like you claim you do, you'd be convinced that our intentions are benign."

For a moment, Fune ponders the Admiral's words, and he almost gives Van Aken the impression that he's dealing with a reasonable, if not a bit misguided, fellow army man. The bubble of hope bursts quickly, though. "No. We know better!" Fune shouts, smiling broadly. "All those diplomatic meetings were just desperate attempts to make us believe in your 'peaceful United Federation of Planets'." The broad smile disappears quickly and his words, though still spoken in a booming voice, turn ice-cold. "We know better. We won't let _anyone_ take advantage of us _again_!" The loud words echo through the room for a few seconds. "We've turned the tables."

"Yes, you have," Admiral van Aken says matter-of-factly. "Now _you_ are the Romulans."

A brief, painful silence.

Fune does not accept defeat. "You're just too stubborn to accept the fact that we know exactly how you're thinking! The 'righteous' Federation. Please… I'm on to you. We all are. You're just as stubborn as your troops. I mean… This battle being fought today. Hopeless… Your men are seriously outnumbered and every report we hear gives us more and more reason to believe we will win this battle. And yet you persist in fighting us. What's the point?"

"Tell me. How did you drive away the Romulans from your home planet?" Admiral Van Aken asks fiercely. "By giving up at the first sign of trouble?"

Fune ignores him. "First we'll take this station and every other starbase, station and outpost we come across. We will exterminate all life on your planets. We'll make sure you'll never unleash your evil plans upon us. The Alto Empire will never be messed with again!" This time, the Altonoids that surround him do not miss their cue and they all start cheering in a moment of chauvinistic pride.

While sporting a self-righteous smile, Fune walks over to Admiral Van Aken and halts mere inches away from him. "So now _you_ tell me, Admiral. How does it feel? How does it feel to see everything you stand for, everything you believe in, crashing down upon you?"

Admiral Van Aken doesn't respond.


End file.
